Four raise opposition to office block

Tony Bradley

The Rotorua District Council has received seven submissions relating to a proposal for a new block to be built at the Redwood Centre that would accommodate Rabobank as well as office space for a finance or insurance agency.

Council resource consents team leader Portia McKenzie said four of the submissions opposed the development while one supported it, one had provided conditional support while the other took a neutral stance.

Issues raised by opponents related to traffic, the impact on the Central Business District and one said they were happy with a restaurant going there, but not an office.

Developer Tony Bradley last month applied for resource consent to build a new block that would accommodate Rabobank as well as office space for a finance or insurance agency.

According to the application for resource consent, Rabobank and the other tenant would accommodate a floor space of 440sq m.

The block would be on the Redwood Centre site closest to the Tarawera Rd and Te Ngae Rd roundabout and is the subject of a separate resource consent as the tenants are not considered retail activities. The block would be built around a large redwood tree on the site.

The Rotorua branch of Rabobank, currently on Marguerita St, would move to the new site if resource consent is granted.

Mrs McKenzie said the council was to request further information from Mr Bradley and at this stage a hearing will not be scheduled. "At this stage a pre-hearing may be held instead."

Meanwhile, a review of the Redwood Centre that started earlier this month is nearing completion. The review followed 13 complaints relating to noise and traffic.

Mrs McKenzie said the review was divided into two parts - traffic and noise. The traffic part of the review was expected to be completed early next week.

"With regard to the noise part of the review, the acoustic specialist and the consultant met with neighbours last week to discuss in detail the issues at hand. The acoustic specialist is in the process of doing further noise assessments of the gym to be able to make recommendations."