Unease over subdivision plan

Masterton residents are being warned there is a "nasty precedent" being set if the gated subdivision atop Weraiti Hill east of Masterton goes ahead.
Anita Richardson, a resident who lives on the incline of the Weraiti Hill is calling on the town's residents to sit up and take "careful notice" of what is being planned with the subdivision. She's concerned that there has been little information out in the public arena and therefore people are not aware of the extent of the subdivision.
"If it was a line up of windmills, I'm sure there would have been much more noise about it. This subdivision could be as significant environmentally."
She has learned details about the proposal mainly from newspaper reports, and when talking to people has found very few known about it.
The proposed subdivision covers 74ha offering 54 house sites surrounded by farmland managed by a body corporate. Independent sewerage treatment and water supply schemes are planned. It has been lodged with both district and regional councils and public submissions are open until December 15.
"Do we really need communities who lock themselves behind security gates?" Mrs Richardson said.
"Do we also want to see the significant landscape of the rolling hills broken up with housing?"
She and her husband and family of now four children came to New Zealand seven years ago from Devon in England "for a safer lifestyle". They moved to the Weraiti hill five years ago.
"My complaint about the subdivision is not a nimby (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome, it's about warning people in Masterton that they'll lose their beautiful vista of the eastern hills."
Her other gripe is what she perceives as difficult access to information regarding the subdivision.
The Richardson's received last Friday a letter from the district council, that the subdivision was publicly notified and that there were three weeks to make comment.
District planner Susan Southey said the letters went out in error minus the executive summary and this will be sent this week to those residents immediately bounding the proposed subdivision. It involves up to around 20 properties.
The entire application from Tomlinson and Carruthers Surveyors runs to 600 pages complete with maps and plans. The executive summary is 30 pages.
The planner, Grant McLachlan, who has spent months creating the subdivision development for the owners, Paul Stiles and Prue Hamill, denies any suggestion of a conspiracy theory.
"We have been totally open on this. I've heard there could be concerns expressed about increased traffic on Stronvar Road. That's why we've created an entirely new intersection into the subdivision. If there's any traffic problems, it's not our making."
Commenting on gaining information, Mr McLachlan said all the material is available on an interactive CD which he has provided to the council and which he's happy to supply.
Commenting on Mrs Richardson's criticism of locked gates, Mr McLachlan said the gates were not there for security, but to protect the subdivision's infrastructure, particularly the roads.
"We're aware, it could be a great scenic lookout and as the residents alone are paying for the road maintenance, they needs to be used sparingly.
"If there's an exclusivity issue to address, let everyone pay for the roads."