AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE

7 December 2005

New road provides access to quarry subdivision

Work to develop a new road from the intersection of College Road and Merton Road into the former Mt Wellington quarry site and providing an additional access to Auckland Netball's new facilities is due to begin today.

Construction of the road is expected to take six months and, due to the majority of the work being located within the quarry site, it is hoped there will be minimal disruption to traffic flows along Morrin and College roads.

Contractors working for Landco Limited, the company creating the new subdivision, will carry out the work, which is part of the Landco masterplan for the area. The council has endorsed Landco's masterplan in principle.

Work in the area also involves creating a roundabout where the new road links with College Road and Merton Road, as well as an additional road linking the quarry floor to Morrin Road, adjacent to the Auckland Netball development. The combined works will enable easy access to and from the first stage of the subdivision development and the Auckland Netball centre.

The exact location of Auckland City's proposed link road extending the quarry road to Pilkington Road is yet to be decided. Auckland City is still considering options for this link road after consulting with the public.

A number of mainly Eucalyptus trees will be removed from near the College Road-Merton Road intersection, to be replaced with trees throughout the subdivision development provided and paid for by Landco Limited. Landco received resource consent for this work in November.

"Under the consent, Landco will provide $50,000 for replacement trees in the area and will spend considerable additional amounts on other landscaping within the subdivision," says Ian Maxwell, group manager of implementation planning at Auckland City.

Landco's major landscaping plan for this new road and the entire subdivision will see many thousands of native plants and trees established. This will include tree-fringed boulevard style roads and median strips featuring shrubs. The choice of tree and plant species is being carefully considered by the council to ensure that they are appropriate for the location and that they will replenish and enhance the local environment.

Landco spokesperson, George Hulbert, says that the streets in the new subdivision are expected to be the sort of roads found in Auckland's leafy suburbs.

"We are going to great lengths to provide an environment that will be attractive to the community. The intention is that the boulevards will be planted so that they feel like intimate suburban streets, whilst offering space for public transport and future growth."

ENDS

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