Orewa: 10th May 2007.

Progress for Orewa Community Masterplan

The proposed Orewa Community Masterplan which suggests reducing the number of tall buildings possible in the town centre is now being developed into a detailed rules package by council officers. It is anticipated the new rules package, subject to Council approval, may be publicly notified in July this year.

At Wednesday’s one and a half hour extraordinary general meeting Rodney District councillors voted eight to four in favour of the Orewa Community Masterplan. The plan, which has been substantially developed through the direct participation of the public, seeks to modestly increase the population capacity of the town whilst achieving higher standards of building design and public space. In recognition of regional and district planning policy, the Community Masterplan aims to responsibly manage population growth whilst protecting and enhancing Orewa’s special qualities.

With regard to the town centre, the Community Masterplan aims to restrict the number of tall buildings in the town centre to about eight. That represents a significant change from the current District Plan rules which potentially allows as many as twenty-four such buildings.

No high-rise development would be allowed along the waterfront or north of Florence Avenue.

Other important developments proposed in the plan are environmental improvements to enhance the visual appeal of the town and slow vehicle speeds along the Hibiscus Coast Highway through Orewa as well as the creation of a Beachside boardwalk.

Rodney District Council Director District Strategy & Planning, Warren Maclennan is pleased with the decision, calling it another step forward in what he describes as “a comprehensive” planning process.

But, he says, the process was far from finished. “What we have now, endorsed by the majority of Council, is a blueprint that will enable staff to produce a Masterplan document for a councillors’ workshop which can then be put before full Council in June and notified for public submission soon after.”

The final step, hearings before independent commissioners, would not take place until early next year, he says.

END.