Subsequent to the public meeting we held on Thursday 10 October at the Waikanae Bowling Club several people have contacted us asking about follow-up activity.

We applied for registration of the Society and received the certificate of incorporation from the Companies Office on Thursday the 17 October exactly one week later.

That night the Committee met and agreed on activities aimed at reinstating protection of the Garden Precinct from intensive development such as been approved by the Council at 14-16 Ngarara Road.

These activities are now underway.

Initially we propose a private plan change as suggested by barrister Ian Gordon at the public meeting – see attached notes from the meeting.

We tried to get names and contact details from everyone who came to the meeting on the 10^th of October but didn’t quite succeed.

If you know of anyone who didn’t attend but want to be involved in protecting the Garden Precinct please get them to contact membership officer Hamish Douglas at hamishandrewdouglas@gmail.com  phone 0211 883 3160.

More notes from the 10 October public meeting

200 people were present at start of meeting, another 30 or so arrived after the initial count.  Councilor Nigel Wilson and Local Community Board Chairman Richard Mansell and WCB member Michelle Lewis were present at beginning of meeting, and another councilor, Jocelyn Prvanov arrived during meeting.

Murray Gibb, convened the meeting.   

He thanked the Waikanae Bowling Club for allowing the meeting to be held in their facility and barrister Ian Gordon for providing pro bono advice to concerned local residents. 

Rob Burrows from the Waikanae Bowling Club outlined health and safety matters.

Murray Gibb advised that the aim of the meeting was to restore protection on the Waikanae Garden Precinct which is a special character area identified in the District Plan. 

Until Plan Change 2 of the District Plan was implemented, the precinct was afforded protection from intensive development.  Sections could not be subdivided into lots of less than 700 square metres. With changes to the Resource Management Act in 2020 and subsequently to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), Tier 1 Councils, including the KCDC, were required by the Government to allow for High and Medium Density Residential Zones. 

The Garden Precinct along with most of the urban KCDC area are now deemed by Plan Change 2 to be medium density residential zones allowing for intensive development with small lots and dwellings up to 11 metres tall. 

The KCDC has granted a resource consent for a 21 lot subdivision on a  4860 square metre property at 14 – 16 Ngarara, deeming the effects to be less than minor, and therefore not needing notification.  This development is legal, done and dusted and there is nothing residents can do to undo it. 

Such developments have the potential to wreck the character of the precinct and its amenity value. 

The Minister of Housing has advised that the NPS-UD will be revised to allow Tier 1 Councils to make medium density residential zones optional.

Under the fast-track legislation recently announced, three housing projects in the KCDC area are listed for development, namely 800 houses at the Otaki Racecourse, 1000 houses in Waikanae North and 1800 houses on Kapiti Road. Coupled with existing developments underway this will increase the supply of houses in the KCDC area by over 4000 in the near future. Kianga Ora advises that there is a waiting list of only 260 applicants for social housing in the KCDC area. 

There will be no shortage of housing in the KCDC area. Therefore, there is no need to wreck existing special character areas in the KCDC area to meet the objectives of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development. Aside from the Waikanae Garden Precinct these include the old beach areas of Otaki and Waikanae, Raumati South and the Paekakariki Village area. 

Ian Gordon, a barrister with expertise in planning under the Resource Management Act presented the legal situation. 

He said that Plan Change 2 in 2023 diluted how the Garden Precinct was intended to be managed, imposing policies which allow changes in intensification and style.  This doesn’t work for those who value the precinct.  He said special character precincts in the KCDC area are identified in the District Plan as being important but under current policies, are not so important that they can’t be ‘mown to the ground.’

He noted tree clearance was a permitted activity under the new rules which was another step in the dilution of the amenities of special character values of this and other precincts.

His advice to the meeting was to incorporate, get resource planning advice, and get a Private Plan Change in order to put strength and spine back into the amenity provisions of the precinct. 

Questions 

Ian Gordon was questioned from the floor:

• What the present Government’s position on this type of thing?  He advised that it was hard to know.
• Were there any precedents that could help us? He advised that there weren’t any.

Glen Wicks from the Waikanae Beach Residents Society advised that they had objected to Plan Change 2 at the time it was proposed, but got turned down without the courtesy of really being listened to.  

Nigel Wilson (Waikanae Ward Councilor)

He said he objected at the time Plan Change 2 was promoted by the KCDC.  He received assurances that development such as that approved at 14 – 16 Ngarara Road would not occur.  He does not think the game is over – he supports a Private Plan Change advising that while it is expensive it is very doable.  His concern was that the 14 – 16 Ngarara Road development will be a precedent setter. Under current rules he suggested that people could simply get out chainsaws and start cutting down the existing vegetation in the precinct.

He noted that there are currently 260 families looking for social housing in the KCDC area. With the number currently being fast tracked current policies do not meet a need, just a desire.  

He could foresee an excess of houses in the district in the future with consequent pressure on infrastructure. 

Paul McBride 

Advised attendees on the process of forming an incorporated society. The Incorporated Societies Act has changed with new and very formal rules.  Ten people are required to sign up as members and officers need to be appointed. MBIE administers the Act.  An incorporated society can be a vehicle to hold money and, pay for work to be done.   Annual returns to MBIE are now required, so running societies can be quite onerous.

Gerald Ponsford

Asked from the floor whether attendees agreed that an incorporated society should be formed. He suggested that it be set up using through the database of attendees after the meeting.  There was general agreement at the meeting to the establishment of an incorporated society – with no objections (No formal vote taken though).

Frank Boffa

Noted that he does not live in the Garden Precinct but he has been a 30-year resident in Waikanae.

He pointed out that when the new NPS -UD was implemented it did not require Tier 1 Councils like the KCDC to toss everything out.  

In 2022 the KCDC commissioned a detailed study by Urban Perspectives Limited in association with Boffa Miskell into the character of the Garden Precinct. A report from the study is available on the KCDC website.  He doubted if the council took any notice of it – despite it being sound and, in his view, it was a tragedy that the Council did not even refer to the report in Plan Change 2.  

He suggested by way of comparison to the Waikanae situation, Tauranga, with its commissioners, who showed an innovative approach to special character areas, which we could use.   

Grant Birkenshaw

Introduced himself as a former planner from the Upper Hutt City Council.  He noted that the public turnout at this meeting was such that the Council wouldn’t like it. He suggested that a private plan change would cost circa $14,000 – and a council could accept or reject it.  He pointed out inconsistencies between Mayoral statements on protecting the environment and Council policy in regard to the Garden Precinct.  He advised that he didn’t know of any other special character area that has had its amenity values removed from protection in the way currently applied to the Garden Precinct.   

Jocelyn Prvanov

Spoke as a Waikanae Ward councilor, and chair of the KCDC Environment Committee.  She understood that Plan Change 2 was all about increasing housing and at the Council meetings there was no discussion about protecting the existing environment in the Precinct.  

John Tocker

Introduced himself as an architect and local resident.  He said urban intensification should be close to amenities like transport, which was not the case in all of the Precinct or other special character areas in the KCDC area.  Protecting such areas was a district wide issue.  They were established by earlier Councils with a view to protecting the character of each area.  He advised the members of the incorporated society to engage with other groups with similar interests.  

General business

Timeframes – Murray Gibb advised that a draft constitution for the society had been prepared. Registration can be completed in a fortnight.  Ten people were needed as signatories.    

He called for names of officers for the society and volunteered to be one. The following people also volunteered to be officers: Gerald Ponsford and Michelle Lewis — the last is the Society’s chair.

It was noted that while the cost of a Private Plan Change could be high, if every attendee donated $70  that could fund commissioning legal advice and drafting a plan change.

Quentin Poole advised that funding shouldn’t be a problem. He noted that the Waikanae Beach Residents Association had easily raised funds for two coastal planning reports. 

N.B After the meeting the following individuals volunteered to assist with the incorporated society: Carl Van Der Meer, Murray Radford, Mark Wotton, Norrey Simmons and Eddie Winkel.