The area, in the beachside town of Ōākura, south west of New Plymouth, is currently zoned as rural. The developer of the proposed subdivision, Mike McKie, made a private plan change request asking for it to be changed to residential, business, rural lifestyle and open space. This change would have paved the way for a subdivision consisting of 399 sections.
The application received more than 436 submissions with more than 390 opposing the plans.
In response to evidence given at a 2019 hearing into the rezoning request, McKie adjusted his plans to 144 properties over 15.9 hectares, however the majority of residents in the area still opposed the plan.
Submitters opposed to the development, known as Ōākura Farm Park (OFP), included Ōākura school, which cited the risk of an unmanageable roll growth being created by the development as part of the reasoning to oppose the development. It also cited a lack of trust in the developer.
"In our view there have been serious and clear breaches of integrity by OFP which unfortunately provide Ōākura School with low confidence pertaining to the many personal undertakings in the proposal."
Another submission was received from Ōākura playcentre, also in opposition to the development. The submission stated safety concerns based on an increase of traffic in the area as well as a concern the future of the Playcentre itself in the Ōākura community was in jeopardy.
"If the proposed plan was to occur, there is no doubt that Ōākura School would rapidly grow and extra space needed for this expansion. We are concerned the site of our playcentre would be needed for the growing school and it would be lost."
The key reasons in the commissioner's report for recommending the application was turned down were that the plan change was not aligned with the 'growth and direction' for Ōākura, that there is already capacity for development and growth in the area for at least 30 years and a lack of adequate evaluation of the social and cultural impact on the size of the township.
McKie as the applicant, as well as all submitters now have 30 working days to appeal the decision to the Environment Court.