Pauanui plan too high for some

Ron Hayes (left) and Malcolm Fowler urge people to make their views on the plan for Pauanui known. Pictures / Alan Gibson

The Pauanui skyline is looking up, but some locals fear for one of the country's "coastal pearls".

The community board in the Coromandel beach town is proposing changes to the district plan that would allow buildings up to 16.5m, or three to four storeys, in areas zoned for extra density development.

The issue was aired at a public meeting yesterday, when more than 100 people packed the local fire brigade hall to hear a presentation of the community board's "Vision Pauanui" draft plan for next year. They heard that pressure on land at Pauanui is growing and development is likely to happen fast once a building moratorium is lifted in 2007.

The latest projections show that by 2026, the town will have 3671 houses - a 91 per cent increase from 2001.

A questionnaire conducted last year showed that 73 per cent of ratepayers favoured conventional housing (one dwelling per 600-700sq m) as the most appropriate form of development for Pauanui. Only 13 per cent supported in-fill development, such as townhouses, units and apartments.

The questionnaire results were taken into account by a group of 11 property owners tasked with drawing up the "Vision Pauanui" plan.

They have suggested increasing maximum building heights in the town's four extra density zones from 12m to 15m high, with a possible extra 1.5m of non-habitable space allowed for improved roofing design.

The taller buildings would be built on no less than 2000sq m and cover about a quarter of the section, allowing room for planting around the outside.

This was seen as a more desirable alternative to subdividing sections to make room for more dwellings, as happened at Whangamata, or building low-rise apartment blocks that took up green space.

Group chair and community board member Margaret McDougall said the plan also allowed for growth. "We've only suggested one more floor as a trade-off to make it viable."

She said misinformation had been circulating in the community that the group was advocating an increase in building heights beyond extra density zones. "There's nothing in the plan to say we are promoting that same height in the rest of Pauanui."

But Pauanui resident Ron Hayes said many locals feared that the plan would pave the way for higher buildings to be built in other zones.

Mr Hayes has collected several hundred signatures for a petition opposing the plan, saying it goes against what people want. "The community said one year ago, 'We don't want to go high'."

He felt it was not good enough that only one option was being presented and feared the views of the 82 per cent of Pauanui ratepayers who live out of town had not been taken into account.

But community board chairman Malcolm Fowler said "Vision Pauanui" was a working document. Both he and Mr Hayes stressed the need for people to make their opinions known.

Submissions close on November 11.