This was a 24-page booklet that KCDC produced in 2017 after over a year of engagement with local Olde Beach residents proposing special protection from developers for the area.

The below letter from former KCDC Cr (2019-2022) Gwynn Compton to Te Upoko o te Ika (The Fishhead) a.k.a. The Post is in favour of the latest Property Businessmen controversial plans in Eruini Street (see earlier posts) which even Te Horo based radical Leftist Michael Moore is unhappy with. And because of the following Gwynn has had from that time, it requires comment.

At the time of the 2019 council election Gwynn was a member of the National Party and in the 2020 parliamentary election supported Tim Costley; but there was no such support in 2023, despite Tim Costley’s wanting more frequent, longer distance commuter trains which was also one of Gwynn’s hot issues.

While we know several people who have shifted from the political Left to Right over the last few years, Gwynn is the only person we know who has gone the other way. In local government politics, political ideology shouldn’t matter much, and in the past it hasn’t, but with the advent of the Jacinda regime and its all-embracing domination of all branches of government, it increasingly did.

This letter appeared earlier this week:

One wonders if those opposing townhouses in Waikanae Beach (July 5) ever reflect on how their homes also once changed the community’s character? Less than a century ago Waikanae Beach was a quiet holiday spot with small baches and few permanent residents. It was only because of change that the houses Nimbys now live in were allowed to be built in the first place.

As I’ve asked before: if we can’t have meaningful densification in Paekākāriki, Raumati, Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Peka Peka, Te Horo, and Ōtaki because of Nimbys clinging to their entrenched privilege, then where are the affordable homes for our aged care workers, our nurses, and our teachers going to go? How are our tamariki and our mokopuna meant to afford to live in the communities they grew up in?

Prior to the MDRS and NPS-UD changes to our district plan (changes I was proud to vote to implement) Kāpiti had become one of the least affordable places in the country to live. Communities change and if I had to pick between Kāpiti changing into an increasingly unaffordable enclave for the wealthy or being an inclusive community where everyone can afford to live, then I’ll pick the latter.

Gwynn Compton, Paraparaumu Beach

We referred this to the Waikanae Garden Precinct Protection Society for comment, whose spokesperson Hamish Douglas replied:

We’re aware of his views and appreciate his commitment to housing affordability. That said, we think it’s important to make a few clarifications that often get lost in these types of discussions.

First, opposition in areas like the Garden Precinct or Waikanae Beach isn’t about resisting all change or density. It’s about ensuring that the change is well thought out, properly planned, and responsive to local context, especially in areas with significant community character, ecological value, and infrastructure limitations.

Second, the comparison to past development doesn’t really hold when you consider the scale, form, and pace of what’s currently proposed. Previous changes typically occurred incrementally, with community input, and within infrastructure and environmental limits. What’s happening now is being driven by blunt instruments like the MDRS without adequate regard for place-specific factors, and that’s where many residents’ concerns lie.

And lastly, we believe it’s possible to create inclusive, affordable communities without undermining the very qualities that make these places special. A one-size-fits-all approach risks eroding the diversity of our towns in pursuit of density that may not even deliver affordability in the end.

Our views:

Kapiti was not “one of the least affordable places in the country to live” 20 years ago and that was the reason a lot of people moved here, including retirees on fixed pensions. Why did Gwynn move to Kapiti from Wellington a decade or so back?

What has changed in the last 20 years? A succession of awful mayors — Rowan, Church, Guru and Holborow — and two atrocious council bosses, Dougherty and Maxwell, made living here expensive with big Rates increases. Together these people have squandered well over $100 million of Ratepayer money on ‘white elephants’ and a massively inefficient, bureaucratic, low-productivity organisation. A number of businesses have moved out of Kapiti in the last decade because of what’s happened.

Furthermore, the coming of the electric commuter trains to Waikanae in 2011 and then the Expressway 6 years later have had an impact on property prices. With the increased demand came the developers buying up land for new housing — limited supply and increasing demand has had an impact on prices.

All the mentions of Nimby (Not in my backyard) ring hollow — how would Gwynn feel if Property Businessmen decided to build, if not a ‘Carbuncle’ next to him, then a medium rise block of flats that could overlook his opaque-fenced property in Manly Street?

His attitude seems to smack of ‘let’s punish the better-off by erecting buildings next to them that will reduce the value of their properties.’ We say no.