2012-07-17 - Te Awamutu Online

6 TE AWAMUTU COURIER, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012
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Planning | Surveying | Engineering
Inspired Teams - Successful Solutions
Proudly local...
CKL’s origins in Te Awamutu date back for at least
50 years...
CKL look forward to assisting you with your land
development project as we all play our part in
shaping the future of Te Awamutu & District.
www.ckl.co.nz
David Latham
CKL Planning
Manager
Waipa district plan unveiled
CKL concerned at level of Council control
CKL commends Waipa District
Council staff on the new
proposed District Plan which sets
out the rules by which any
development within the Waipa
District must abide over the next
10 years.
With origins dating back at
least 50 years in the region, CKL
Planning, Surveying, Engineering
is, however, concerned at the
level of controls and the amount
of restrictions the council is
proposing to introduce for any
form of land use or development.
The challenges facing all district
plan reviews throughout
New Zealand has brought a new
awareness of the need to protect
quality soils for their best utilisation
— in the Waipa and Waikato
that is of course dairying.
CKL endorses this philosophy in
principal; however, the company
is concerned that the proposed
changes to the rules will
ultimately restrict growth in the
district.
Experience shows us that
more red tape, more controls and
more restrictions tend to bring
associated higher time input and
therefore higher costs. CKL
already are finding that land
owners are shying away because
the economics of a project just
don’t ‘stack up’.
Two rural subdivision rules
that Waipa District Council currently
have, which are destined
to be removed, are the ‘Long
Association Holding’(LAH) rule
and the ‘Surplus Dwelling’ rule.
Council maintain that these
smaller lot rural subdivisions
have led to ‘ribbon development’
and fragmentation and cite the
Kaipaki district as being an
example of this.
Kay Carter
Branch Manager
Associate
Jonathan Gwyn
CKL Survey
Manager
CKL disagrees. Kaipaki is an
example of a vibrant district with
diversification of land use into
blueberries, nurseries, horse
studs/agistment, cafes and hot
houses, being just some of the
activities bringing character and
opportunity to the district for
greater employment and revenue
from other sources.
The LAH rule allows for someone
who has owned and worked
on their land for at least 15 years,
to subdivide out a lot around
their existing dwelling or a small
piece of bare land no greater than
5000m 2 on which to build a new
home for themselves. This
enables retirement on the family
holding, but with title separate to
that of the farm. There is also has
a social benefit to the farming
community in that retiring
farmers are able to stay in the
district and provide their
ongoing wisdom and support to
the family farm and surrounds.
Statistics apparently reveal that
50 per cent of these LAH titles are
onsold and the assumption
follows that the farmer has
‘milked the system’, creating the
title for capital gain. However,
the stats probably do not analyse
who bought the title.
The social ‘association with
the district’ aspect is a consideration
which seems to have been
overlooked with the proposed
removal of this rule.
The Surplus Dwelling rule
allows subdivision into a separate
title of a farm house or cottage
that, perhaps because of
advances in technology, is no
longer required for the extra
farm worker. This rule does
allow the farmer to sell off that
surplus asset and generate some
• Resource Management Planning/Land Use
Consents
• Land Subdivision Experts
• Redefi nition of Legal Boundaries
• Topographic/Contour Surveys
• Civil Engineering Design, Construction
Supervision
• Soil Foundation Testing, Erosion and Sediment
Control Plans
• Set Out Surveys
capital to plough back into the
farm. Of course it also provides
for a ‘lifestyler’ to live in and
enjoy a rural environment.
The Urban Subdivision rules
are being altered under the guise
of ‘protecting the rural nature’ of
our town. CKL recalls that Council
had that same philosophy at
the last review ten years ago and
believe the current rules have
been working well in this regard.
Council now propose to put
the average size of sections in
town up from a 400m 2 minimum
to 500m, 2 whilst also introducing
an average of 600m 2 for three or
more lots and a maximum size of
800m 2 , net of any access.
These rules will inhibit infill
housing as there are few sections
available in Te Awamutu of a size
to meet the area criteria. This
criteria seems incongruent when
we have a large demographic of
aging population who will no
doubt create a demand for
smaller sections and town house
living in the near future.
Council has gone some way to
addressing the future need for
housing by introducing some
areas of town to be designated for
high density dwelling, which is
applaudable. The challenge here
for Council is to choose areas
which take into account land
stability, vehicular access, distance
from town , availability of
services reticulation and land
which is fit for purpose.
The proposed increase of the
average size of an urban section
restricts the possibility of fully
utilising the land now within the
town boundaries. This puts the
onus for the future growth of Te
Awamutu squarely on the shoulders
of three to four private
• Quarry Stockpile Measure/Monthly Monitoring
103 Market Street, Te Awamutu: (07) 871 6144 | 58 Church Road, Hamilton: (07) 849 9921
landowners whose land borders
the town’s boundaries. These
‘growth cells’ have been identified
in Council’s structure plan
and designated for development
from 2012 to 2025. With Council’s
Development Contribution fee
for each new section created
currently sitting at $24,079,
coupled with high costs of roading
and reticulation of services,
developers seem currently not
interested.
Whilst CKL appreciates the
huge amount of planning and
forethought that has gone into
the creation of the proposed
District Plan, they are concerned
that the growth of Te Awamutu
will not be as Council forecast if
all the proposed new rules are
implemented. The bottom line is
that any predictions and budgets
based on revenue to Council
provided by on-going development
in the district may fall well
short if restrictive rules introduced
are growth retardant and
if no-one can afford to do it.
Submissions close on July 27,
giving a very short time to have a
say on rules which will affect
development for the next 10
years. CKL urges every resident
to make themselves familiar with
the plan, which is available online
on Council’s website. A
submission form is also available
to download.
As a service to our community,
CKL is offering a free 20
minute in office consultation
regarding your property and any
impact the new rules may have
on its development potential.
Staff will be available on
Tuesdays & Thursdays between
10-12am, no appointment necessary.