Council to notify private plan change application

Media Release
For Immediate Use

21st August 2008

PRESS STATEMENT:
North Shore City Council to publicly notify private plan change application
MILFORD CENTRE

NZRPG Management Ltd (NZRPG) has welcomed the recent decision by the North Shore City Council’s strategy and finance committee to publicly notify its Private Plan Change application.

NZRPG’s application, lodged in April, seeks amendments to the North Shore City District Plan to enable the development and integration of apartment living at its Milford Centre site on the North Shore.

NZRPG project director Allan McGregor said Tuesday’s decision reinforced the Council’s commitment to a process that draws communities into the debate around planning for future population growth in ways that improve our urban centres, without adversely affecting our natural resources.

“A concerted effort is being made at every level of government to put in place sustainable solutions to the growth and environmental challenges facing this region.”

A number of areas have been identified by the Auckland Regional Council and North Shore City Council to accommodate significant future population growth. This will mean that our town and village centres, including Milford, are set to change dramatically over the next 20 years.

“Encouraging more people to live in and around town and village centres, and close to public transport routes, is an integral part of the growth strategy adopted by the Council.

“We are confident that our proposed development is a sensible and realistic response to both regional and local planning goals,” Mr McGregor said.

“The transformation of Milford Centre will serve as a catalyst for a wider urban renaissance by contributing to the success and attractiveness of Milford town centre as a vital and viable community and commercial heart.”

“While we have been constrained by the planning process from fully informing the Milford community about our proposals, we have spent the intervening months since lodgment building relationships with local community and commercial associations around staged development at the site, as well as broader town centre issues.”

“We are committed to see these relationships strengthened further through continued open and constructive engagement about Milford’s future,” Mr McGregor added.

On notification, local residents will be fully informed about the proposals. NZRPG will also host a series of meetings where the Milford community will be able to learn more about the proposed development at the Milford Centre, its regional and local growth context, and provide responses to the future town centre vision.

Residents will also have an opportunity to respond by way of formal submissions to the Council as part of the public notification process.

The plan change application marks the final stage of NZRPG’s redevelopment plans for its 2.9ha Milford Centre site. The transformation process is well underway with the internal refurbishment and the repositioning of the retail centre as a premier shopping experience.

ENDS

CORPORATE PROFILE:
NZRPG Management Ltd is the largest privately-owned retail development, investment and management property company in New Zealand, with assets of $700 million.
NZRPG’s focus is the development and management of centres that are desirable community and commercial hubs rather than simple shopping centres.
This comprehensive approach delivers long-term value to investors and produces positive social, economic and environmental benefits locally and for the regions in which its properties are located.
The determination to improve existing retail centres and apply thinking which goes beyond traditional retail strategies, to meet the needs of tenants and the future aspiration of local communities, is fundamental to the company’s approach.
NZRPG operates retail centres at Milford and Highbury (North Shore), Westgate (Waitakere) and Fraser Cove (Tauranga) and also has three new centres in planning, as well as extensive refurbishment and expansion programmes in progress on existing properties.

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