“The first thing that will happen [because of proposed council amalgamation] is the developers will come in, they’ll be licking their lips and rubbing their hands together over this because it will mean they can make the buildings bigger, the block sizes smaller, we’ll end up with medium/high density housing, and the first thing to go will be our trees.”

Does that sound familiar to Waikanae Beach people?  Exactly, the reason we’ve posted this video.

The issues are a little different; Sydney has been experiencing the same growth pains as Auckland, with the same ridiculous escalation in real estate prices which is not so bad in Wellington.  However, the signs are there: we’ve been told that real estate prices in the Waikanae Beach area are on the climb because of the pending Expressway.