Coastal farms turned into latte sippers' hideaways

By CLAIRE TREVETT

When Alan Going was a boy, he would look out his window and see two other house lights.

Now he sees 150 lights, after the Tutukaka coastline was one of the first to be hit by demand for baches and holiday homes in Northland.

Prices for prime coastal real estate are now usually more than $1 million.

About 60 per cent of the buyers are Aucklanders. Whangarei residents own just over 30 per cent of the homes on the coastline, which until 20 years ago was predominantly farmland.

The report said the needs and wants of Aucklanders would have a greater impact on the coastline around Whangarei as travel times and roads improved.

Opinions are split on the changes.

Mr Going does not mind Aucklanders, because he does not see them for most of the year. It is because of them that the area will soon have a public sewerage system.

Susy Bretherton, who has lived at Tutukaka for 21 years, said that over the past 15 years there had been a huge increase in "very large beach houses" built and used by Aucklanders.

Rates had gone up as property prices had soared and the extra traffic on the roads could be a pain over summer.

Ms Bretherton thinks development should happen. However, she said the council had to keep a closer eye on what was going on and show common sense.

"It has been very easy for investors to come and with patience, money and clever consultants build exactly where, when and what they want. Sleep-outs, boat shed, additions, extensions have all been descriptions used to get building permits for new houses."

Whangarei District Mayor Craig Brown said coastal development had happened "a little haphazardly" historically.

However, Northland had since been "discovered" and the rise in property prices meant subdividing and selling the land was now more profitable than farming it. It also helped the local economy, but he said the council had a responsibility to "manage" development.

"Properties are becoming less affordable so people are getting further and further north. We had been everybody's poor cousin and until 20 years ago people were heading south to the Coromandel. Now they're saying, 'Hang on, there's some good stuff'."

Plans were under way to have more control over it by identifying areas good for further development and those that had to be protected.

Stephen Wareham, general manager of Schnappa Rock Cafe, admits the place caters for Aucklanders and charges accordingly.

In summer it thrives catering for Aucklanders who go to their baches and can't be bothered to cook, but in winter things are quieter.