KEY POINTS:
Two years ago a bombshell was dropped in our neighbourhood. It was revealed that a developer had purchased the former Logan Park Motor Lodge, opposite Cornwall Park, and planned to supersize it by building 129 apartments.
Residents were appalled by the monolithic structure proposed by the Marlin Group
that would dwarf their humble dwellings in One Tree Hill and throw leafy backyards into shadow.
Sixty per cent of the trees on the site were for the chop, and there would suddenly be hundreds of extra bodies living right next door. Not to mention their cars.
How could this be possible in a residential 6A zone? It seemed like a bad joke. But it wasn't. The Marlin Group had every intention of gaining resource consent to carry out its plans.
What was the neighbourhood to do? They could purchase earplugs and turn a blind eye, or they could fight. We chose to fight.
It was a hard road. Meetings were held at St Oswald's Church hall and volunteers were galvanised into action to pound the streets delivering leaflets or make hundreds of phone calls.
The community response was terrific. Neighbours who hadn't spoken in years, having fallen out over new garages or hedges, made friends again, united against the common foe. Our local professionals worked for hours preparing submissions for the hearing.
When the hearing was held last November, residents rose at 6am to take the bus to the Town Hall, only to sit and wait for hours to be heard.
Elderly ladies with walking sticks made the trip into the city, people skipped work, while others who were very shy overcame their nerves to speak in public.
In January, the Auckland City Council rejected the application for resource consent. Rejoicing, locals held a street party and the bubbly flowed. And that should be the end of my story, but it isn't.
Not prepared to take "no" for an answer, the Marlin Group lodged an appeal atthe Environment Court. So where to from here?
We have been shown slightly amended plans - a restaurant/bar has been removed from the street frontage and the complex will now be painted dark green - but the bulk remains.
The residents' society, the Logan Park Community Group, will hire a lawyer to represent its interests in the Environment Court. Now we must fundraise to continue the fight and, believe me, cake stalls and a couple of sausage sizzles won't cover it.
The battle against unpopular developments is being fought in streets all over Auckland.
Ponsonby Rd is up in arms over the same group's plans to build the massive Soho development on the Ponsonby Rd/Crummer Rd/Williamson Ave block.
The good citizens of Balmoral are battling a proposal to build a 24-hour McDonald's restaurant in their midst.
In the Orakei Basin, locals are wrestling with plans to build high-rise apartments.
At coffee, a friend in Meadowbank revealed that she was fighting a proposal for the retirement complex, the Meadowbank Village, to add extra storeys that would overlook her backyard. The burghers of Auckland are undoubtedly under pressure. A peaceful haven in the countryside may look more appealing. Then again, perhaps not.
It seems that rural folk are also under threat from bulldozers. My parents purchased a home in the bush at Mangawhai two years ago, only to find that a developer plans to carve up their rural outlook into sites for houses and a shopping centre.
My mother's favourite local beach Te Arai - a coastal wilderness, where children can still find seahorses and crabs as big as a man's hand - is also under threat from a proposed subdivision.
There are similar scenarios up and down the country. It seems there is no escape. So we must fight on to protect our city from oversized and unwanted developments.
But just a minute - what was that rustling sound? Is it a stack of cards falling?
Finance companies going to the wall, property sales on the slide - the heydays of the developer may be numbered. Yes, maybe help could be at hand.
* Maria de Jong-Hurley is a freelance journalist living in Greenlane.
