Drury development: The south Auckland township that's a city in the making

By Sharon Brettkelly of RNZ

To most people, Drury is just a sign on the side of Auckland’s Southern Motorway.

It used to be called Dreary Drury, a rural village surrounded by farms 36km from the city centre.

But just two minutes off the motorway is the start of a city in the making where earthmovers are flattening out green hills for housing, new roads are being built, and the old village shops are about to be bowled to make way for a new bridge over the railway.

Some locals hate the signs of progress, others embrace it. Auckland Council is trying to manage it to cope with the predicted 60,000 people expected to move to Drury - that’s not even counting the development in surrounding areas - over the next 20 years, as part of the Southern Rural Strategy.

The area included in the strategy stretches from Maraetai to Waiuku. It makes up 24% of Auckland geographically and forms part of a larger blueprint for the city’s future growth and development that will be published in May next year.

The entire area is expected to grow by 100,000 more people within 30 years but Drury is in a strategic part of the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, making it desirable for commercial and residential developers.

Franklin ward councillor Andy Baker. Photo / The Detail / Sharon Brettkelly

Auckland councillor for Franklin Andy Baker says that without the fertile soils that protect neighbouring Pukekohe, it is taking a hit when it comes to growth.

“We’re paying the price for being in the heart of the golden triangle,” says Baker, Drury born and bred, who sees hills that he drives past every day being flattened.

“It’s the transition of farmland and 10-acre blocks into high-density, urban living.”

People fear that Drury will become a sprawling urban mass or a dormitory suburb and that the council can’t afford to cover the costs of roads, pipes and other infrastructure required to connect the new developments, he says.

“There’s people who don’t want to see development, they want their lives to be left alone. Contrary to that as we’ve seen here in Drury there’s been some people who have made a lot of money out of having the opportunity to sell their little piece of paradise to developers and we are talking many, many, millions of dollars.”

Baker says the Southern Rural Strategy, still in draft form, aims to identify how, when and where developments take place and ensuring that people “can live, work and play without having to drive for miles”.

Price By Negotiation - Drury landowners are cashing in on development. Photo / The Detail / Sharon Brettkelly

He also says it should clarify to developers that “it’s not all about them” and that councils and central government have to pay a hefty cost towards infrastructure, highlighting the ongoing tensions between developers and councils over financial contributions.

The Detail also talks to Charles Ma, founder of Auranga, the billion-dollar project in Drury that is half finished but still without shops or a community centre, where the only cafe closed recently. It means that residents have to travel to neighbouring Pukekohe for a supermarket.

Ma says Auranga is a prototype for better living and aims to be an inspiration for the world, but it will be at least two years before the planned shopping complex opens.

You can find out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

- RNZ

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