The under-construction Auckland Surf Park plans apartments and a town centre, all overlooking the water.
The developers of New Zealand’s first surf park have won fast-track referral to add more than 400 homes, a town centre and a clubhouse to the project, now under construction.
The business announced plans for further development at 1350 Dairy Flat Highway near Silverdale north of Auckland.
The statement came from the Kiwi, Perth and Los Angeles-based parties.
“A.W. Holdings, a joint venture between international surf park developer Aventuur and New Zealand project partners, including Sir John Kirwan, today confirmed that they have succeeded under the Government’s new Fast-track Approvals Act to add additional amenities to the master planned community, including a town centre, residential homes, and a surfing members’ clubhouse,” a statement said.
Fast-track consent for the surf park has already been granted and extensive earthworks started last spring.
Some retail is also planned in the expansion on the 43ha site.
“With resource consent already received for the surf park, data centre and solar farm, the project’s backers are seeking to expand the community to include a town centre and more than 400 residential homes,” a statement said.
A spokesman said the park is projected to open in late 2027.
In 2023, the Environmental Protection Authority granted Covid-19 fast-track consenting to A.W. Holdings 2021 for what is now being built at the project.
Mark Francis, a director of A.W. Holdings 2021, said the site was ideal, 20 minutes north of the CBD.
Water would be heated to around 20C and 500 to 1000 waves an hour could be generated to provide ideal conditions.
Earthworks for the first stage began in October. The contract was let to McKenzie Civil Contracting, Francis said.
No other contractors had yet been appointed for the buildings or surf pool, to be 2m at its deepest point.
The pool, wellness retreat centre, visitor accommodation, restaurant, Spark data centre, a solar farm to power the development and other infrastructure has already won approval.
Spark bought a 4ha super-lot inside a 43ha master-planned development to build its new data centre.
Site entry is from Dairy Flat Highway to the west and Postman Rd to the east. The park is about 4km south of the Silverdale interchange with State Highway 1.
Some residents have not been enamoured. They raised objections based on noise, light pollution and traffic.
The initial application earlier this decade won consent for ancillary buildings to support the surf lagoon:
That application was made and approved before the latest plans were launched.
A solar farm on a 7ha site is part of the wider plan.
Spark’s new 16m-high data centre was also included in the application.
The site doesn’t have any public stormwater infrastructure or available connections on its boundaries. So a wetland was also part of the application, to treat, retain and detain runoff. Swales will be built.
Nor is there any wastewater connections on the land.
The original application was for a private onsite treatment and disposal network, which will drain via gravity to a pump station to be built there.
“As the surrounding area is urbanised over time, it is anticipated that a public wastewater connection will become available,” the assessment document said.
Water for the surf park will come via the town supply network and a tributary stream, distributed via pipes on the property.
Works involve the removal of some existing buildings and 271,664cu m cut and 328,236cu m fill over an area of an area of 42.2ha.
The developers also plan to undertake diversion and naturalisation of an existing highly-modified stream contained within the site.
The surf lagoon is intended to operate seven days a week, 6am to 10pm during most days of the year.
Spark’s data centre is planned to be powered by electricity from the solar farm. Waste heat from that centre will then be used to heat the surf lagoon in what Aventuur partner Sir John Kirwan calls a “virtuous cycle”.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.