Alternative options revealed for Mangere special housing area

‘Closer to jobs and shops’ says SOUL campaigner

Campaigners seeking to see the Special Housing Area in Ihumatao, Mangere scrapped have undertaken their own research and found a viable nearby option which wouldn’t cause the same environmental, cultural and heritage damage to Mangere.

Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) spokesman Brendan Corbett says the SOUL group aren’t anti-housing and would support any developments which provide affordable housing in Mangere that don’t impinge or diminish the community’s overall value.

“A housing development at Ihumatao within the last remnants of rural Mangere does not match the criteria of the SHA legislation as it seriously lacks infrastructure and amenities,” he says.

Mr Corbett has identified a viable alternative to the SHA at Ihumatao could be the 33.5 hectares of Council owned land along Ascot Road, Airport Oaks.

The longtime Mangere Bridge resident says the site along Ascot Road is closer to jobs, services and shops and would cause none of the issues that have been raised with the Ihumatao proposal.

“Council planning officers have recently told SOUL that there is ‘no insurmountable problems with using this land for residential development’,” he says.

“The need to protect this unique open space at Ihumatao is even more important today than ever before but SOUL’s ‘land swap’ proposal offers a viable and practical alternative.”

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