Section numbers adding up

Enabling more than 200 residential sections to be brought to market in Hastings is on the agenda this week.

At the Hastings District Council meeting on Thursday councillors will vote on whether to adopt recommendations supporting rezoning land off Howard St to residential. Depending on final section sizes it should yield about 230 lots.

It is one of a number of priority projects underway. Last year storm water issues slowing further development at Lyndhurst in Frimley were solved and Council is now close to enabling another 270 sections to be developed. Work on rezoning land off Iona Rd, which could yield about 360 sections is ongoing.

Looking further into the future, a review of possible residential areas has added land that could yield about 700 extra residential sections in Havelock North.

The Heretaunga Plains Urban Development Strategy (HPUDS) review recommends adding an L-shaped piece land bounded by Napier Rd, Thompson Rd, Romanes Dr and Brookvale Rd in Havelock North to the plan for future residential development.

HPUDS is a long term plan that looks at where urban development would be best placed while preserving as much of the good growing lands of the Heretaunga Plains as possible. It was put together in 2010 by Hastings District Council, Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

HUPDS does not rezone land; rather it indicates where residential development would be best placed. It is then up to the individual councils to progress to detailed planning and rezoning as new urban areas are needed.

The three partner councils are considering the results of the review, run by an Implementation Working Group made up of representatives of all three councils and mana whenua. That report will also be tabled at the Hastings District Council meeting on Thursday.

The report also recommends adding a four hectare block off the end of Read Cr in Clive to the list of potential residential sites and removing Arataki Extension from the first tier of the preferred development plan until odour issues from the neighbouring mushroom farm are solved.

The report shows that by last year there were 545 more households in Hawke’s Bay than were predicted six years ago when the plan was put together. That was attributed to more people than expected making the move to Hawke’s Bay from around New Zealand. Current medium to high projections out to 2045 expect another 10,610 households in the Hastings and Napier area, compared to 8014 projected in 2010.

ENDS

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