Council conditionally approves Coca-Cola's plan change

Auckland City has conditionally approved Coca-Cola Amatil (NZ) Ltd's private plan change to redevelop and expand its current operations and storage facilities in Mt Wellington.

Council tonight adopted the recommendation from independent commissioners to approve Coca-Cola's plan change, subject to:

1) the Department of Conservation (DOC) formally revoking the reserve status of Fisher Park in the New Zealand Government Gazette

2) modifications to Coca-Cola's redevelopment plan.

Council will now wait for the formal notification from DOC before publicly confirming if the private plan change approval will take effect. Notification is expected within the next four weeks.

Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard says, "Subject to Fisher Park's reserve status being formally revoked, we propose to sell Fisher Park to Coca-Cola at a fair and full market price.

"We will use the money from the sale to provide the community with a bigger, more versatile recreation reserve which will cater for a greater range of activities.

"We have the support of the Sir Woolf Fisher Trust to sell Fisher Park and find a better replacement. The park currently has very limited use and there is no scope to develop the reserve further for recreational activities.

"Coke's $80 million hi-tech plant redevelopment will provide security for 500 jobs and the new centralised warehousing will cut Coke's heavy truck traffic by 30 per cent on local roads.

"We hope the sale will serve community needs for better open space, attract and retain enterprise, and help us future-proof the area for transportation needs. Too often we are accused of not planning with foresight but this is an example of us trying to plan for a rapidly growing area," says Mr Hubbard.

Coca-Cola's private plan change hearing was held on 4 and 5 August. Because the council is the landowner of Fisher Park, independent commissioners were appointed to review Coca-Cola's proposal (including the Assessment of Environmental Effects), consider the written submissions and the planner’s report, hear the submissions and evidence presented at the hearing, and submit their recommendation to council.

Once Auckland City receives formal notification of Fisher Park's reserve status, a letter will be sent to submitters and Coca-Cola to advise them of the council's decision on the plan change. Submitters and Coca-Cola will then have the right of appeal to the Environment Court within 30 working days.

For the full copy of the commissioners’ report visit: www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/members/councilmeetings/a200509221800.asp.

Ends

Note to editors:

The following is a summary of the independent commissioners' amendments to Coca-Cola's redevelopment plan:

wording changes to the activity table to clarify the status of the different activities provided for in the Concept Plan.

introducing a specific development control rule in the Concept Plan for controlling the effects of lighting.

clarification of the wording for the acoustic fence on the eastern side of the site under development control 6 – noise.

clarification of the wording restricting heavy vehicle access on Carbine Road under development control 9 – site access.

deletion of part of development control 11 – stormwater management as this relates to functions carried out by the Auckland Regional Council.

deletion in its entirety of development control 11 – Environmental Management Plan as this relates to functions carried out by the Auckland Regional Council.

clarification of the wording setting out the matters over which the Council can exercise its discretion in assessing restricted controlled activity resource consent for any new building above 15m in height in Area A and Area C.

additional assessment criteria for assessing restricted controlled activity resource consent for any new building above 15m in height in Areas A and C.

© Scoop Media