Helensville says ‘Enough is Enough!’

posted Apr 21, 2013, 8:22 PM by Helensville District Business Association

Press release for immediate release

Helensville says ‘Enough is Enough!’

They want standing room only in the Helensville War Memorial Hall on Tuesday 30 April at 7pm. Helensville local Dianne Kidd says, “If you care about the future of Helensville, Parakai and our beautiful South Kaipara region, it is time to STEP UP and OWN IT.

“In response to Auckland Council’s Draft Unitary Plan, our locals feel they have been ignored for too long. We are tired of being fobbed off with excuses and barriers to development and growth. We waited 15 years for waste water to be upgraded whilst almost untreated sewerage spilled into our waterways. This would never have happened on the East Coast or in Auckland City.”

The proposed Draft Unitary Plan, with feedback due by 31 May, presents a complex set of rules and regulations that locals from this region believe will bind Helensville up in bureaucratic red tape and prevent positive change and much needed growth and stimulus in the South Kaipara region for the forseeable future.

Also of major concern is the proposed Rural Coastal zone proposed in the Draft Unitary Plan extending from Muriwai to South Head. This proposed zone will determine South Kaipara’s productive farmland into economic activities that the Auckland Council deems ‘in its wisdom’ to be ‘right’ for residents in the future. It will determine what locals can and can’t do on their own land. “Whilst the principles of environmental protection, economic farming and rural production are paramount to all farmers and landowners, we subscribe to best industry practise as directed by our industry sectors, not rules and regulations devised by city planners,” says Kidd.

“We have unfinished business in the 1998 Helensville Structure Plan and we are demanding that this is now addressed. That no more barriers or hoops are put up for us to jump through. No more costs or applications for us to submit for what we are due. There is a significant debt to our South Kaipara community and we want this settled. We want to know that the Unitary Plan does not undermine what is currently in place and has not been delivered to date.”

The 1998 Helensville Structure Plan has stagnated while the Kumeu / Huapai Plan (2010) and Riverhead Plan (2010) are being actioned right now. The document that was designed and fully consulted on in the Helensville community was signed off by the previous Rodney District Council. However, over the last 15 years, the monies allocated to carry out Helensville’s commitments, have consistently been diverted to be spent in other parts of Rodney. South Kaipara ratepayers want their fair share of resource and opportunity to participate in planned growth for the Auckland Supercity. “We want to be on the radar – we’re tired of being on the backburner. Enough is enough”.

Mrs Kidd is a long time Helensville resident sheep and beef farmer with her husband Richard. Her professional career has spanned the Education and Banking/Investment sectors and she is the Chairman of the Helensville District Health Trust and an independent non-executive Director of several Boards. “The Unitary Plan is so complex that we have personally paid for professional advice to help us understand what this means for us. In short , Helensville features only as a designated Rural and Coastal Town. Such towns are not a priority in the Draft Unitary Plan. In fact it may be 10 years before we see any action on this front. Long awaited Future Urban zones remain just that”.

Whilst Auckland cries out for affordable housing, some of the Helensville Future Urban land currently zoned for medium density residential housing has been reduced to low density. Local Real Estate proprietors from Helensville, Jane Burmester of Century 21 and Graeme McLeod of Harcourts say that houses are being snapped up in Helensville as the demand outstrips supply. House prices and rentals are both rising significantly.

Locals from the region believe Helensville and Parakai desperately need more residential growth to stimulate the twin river towns. Renowned Chef and successful award winning businessman Pete Brennan finally closed the doors of his much loved local restaurant Porcini on 31 March this year. Brennan is saddened by the fact that he just couldn’t make a sustainable living, and now knows firsthand like other local restauranteurs before him that it is simply a numbers game. More population = more customers.

Organisers behind the April 30 meeting say they simply want the Draft Unitary Plan;

1. To rezone the existing Future Urban zones in Helensville South & Parakai to their designated Residential Living densities, in accordance with the existing 1998 Helensville Structure Plan. We desperately need this economic stimulus for both towns. As the cry for affordable housing in Auckland goes out it is impossible to exclude our towns which already have:

• Designated and quality land for residential homes

• Adjoining existing residential areas

• The best infrastructure of any of the towns on the North Western corridor including full health and educational facilities

• Strategic location in historic neighbourhoods with rural settings which provide one of the most attractive housing options on the door step of Auckland

• Equidistance to both State Highways 1 and 16 and the three major growth nodes in Silverdale, Albany and Westgate

• Gateways to both the Kaipara River and South Kaipara Harbour which are established recreational and tourism centres with untapped potential.

2. To prioritise the urban design of Helensville (and to include Parakai) as per the current Helensville Urban Design Framework

3. To allow for full and meaningful consultation on the proposed changes to the Rural Coastal Zone with an extended time frame for consultation and community response.

4. To provide the opportunity for South Kaipara residents to work on their own future planning requirements, with full consultation and support over the next 1 – 3 years. We do not want to be locked down before we start.

ENDS

For more information, imagery or interview requests please contact:

Michelle Gimblett – 021 811183

Key dates:

Tuesday 30 April: Meeting to address the South Kaipara region’s concerns regarding Auckland’s Draft Unitary Plan to Auckland Councillors and Planners at Helensville War Memorial Hall, 7pm. The format of the evening will provide time and opportunity for local residents to meet with planners and Councillors Penny Hulse, Penny Webster and Penny Pirrit along with our local Rodney Board members to privately ask questions. Feedback forms will be provided for all to complete and place in the box on the night. A gold coin donation will help contribute to the administration / organisation locals are voluntarily doing to promote this event.

Thursday 2 May: Additional meeting for rural landowners living between Muriwai and South Head to review, try and understand and address the concerns of land owners at Waioneke School, 6.45pm for a 7pm start. Also to be attended by two Auckland Council senior planning specialists.

ENDS

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