In the news today, the Post reports that Kapiti Council have agreed on new Density rules for their larger urban areas. That will mean that Paraparaumu will heavily densify in the centre, while Waikanae and Paekakariki will be allowed to densify to slightly lower heights. I imagine that this will cause quite a ruckus.
“The new changes mean buildings up to 15 storeys would be enabled in a new ‘’metropolitan centre’’ zone at the centre of Paraparaumu, while 10 and six-storey buildings would be permitted within 400 and 800m of the area. It also allowed buildings of up to six storeys within 800 metres of Paraparaumu, Paekākāriki and Waikanae train stations, and within the town centres at Paraparaumu Beach and Waikanae. Four-storey structures would be allowed within 400m of the town centres at Ōtaki’s Main St, Ōtaki train station and Raumati Beach. They are also enabled within 200m of the village centres at Raumati South and Waikanae Beach.”
I don’t get up the coast that much to the “town of many ovens”, but from memory there is one existing tower (maybe 11 storeys tall?) and basically everything else is just one to two storey high? Even three storeys is a radical concept out here, as all the stairs would frighten the Zimmer frames.
I’m all in favour of increasing density, to sensible limits, in sensible and appropriate places. Generally, cities make sense, although not everywhere, given Wellington’s narrow winding streets. But out in the wild suburban back yards of Kapiti – is that really sensible? Let’s have a look at Waikanae, with an approx 800m radius circle drawn on, to indicate where some buildings of drastically increased height may go :
That makes some sense I guess, and corresponds quite well with the area encompassed by the “old town” of Waikanae. Growth around here is probably more around the beach front these days? Hence allowing for four storeys at the beach – which sadly is probably going to mean some ugly McMansions on the beachfront.
and then if we look at Paraparaumu, now the curious curve of the new Expressway makes sense at last.
And now look at Paekakariki. Hmmm. Are we really planning on putting six storey towers on the side of the hill, or anchored off the coast out at sea?
I had to stop at “. . . a new ‘’metropolitan centre’’ zone at the centre of Paraparaumu. . . “ I’ll come back when the laughter subsides.
My thoughts also, Mr Filth. That’s why I put those maps together – I thought that I must have missed something. But no, it does indeed appear to be the zone that Coastlands sits in, all those big barn sheds. How it transforms from “big box retail” to a towering “metropolitan centre” fills me with wonder.
There are hundreds of BTR apartments going up at Sylvia Park in Auckland. Could be a model for Coastlands.
Good point Conor – I think there is some big name developer doing the Sylvia Park job? Huge development and lots of money tied up in it. But how tall are they? I think maybe only 3 storeys high, maybe? Not the 15 storeys that the Plan change is hoping for ?
Paraparaumu is less than an hour from the city on the train, if I could move out there and save over $100+ a week on rent then it might be worth it. Currently it’s $5 each way on the train, with half-price fares gone in September this would be 20×5=$100/week on train tickets. I guess the supermarket is also a bit cheaper than in town (there’s a Paknsave very close) so I think it would be reasonable from a financial point of view. It is probably attractive to people looking for somewhere less urban than Wellington and there’s a nice beach and access to the Tararuas, so I would expect it to be quite popular.
Whether this is all sustainable from a climate point of view is an entirely different matter, but I doubt that developers are looking at this. How affected would the Kapiti towns be by sea level rise? I would expect Paekakariki to be quite badly affected, the other two town centres are inland but are both on major rivers…
I mean if people are willing to move to Sylvia Park for cheap apartments they’d basically move anywhere, that place is basically an industrial area, the only thing there is a tiny train station… and a mall I guess, but the nearest green space is Hamlins Hill and to get there from Sylvia Park on foot is awful (you have to walk along the South-Eastern Highway, it’s a separated walkway but it is incredibly nasty…)
Don’t forget rates at around 3800 a year
The biggest users of the new density rules on the coast will be the Retirement Chains,
At the moment, 3 story blocks + a peaked roof is aa tall as they have gone,
Ryman, (within the Waikanae central zone)
https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/resources/nz-projects
And Summerset,(backing on to the Expressway, so likely in the regular 4 story area)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWskbClBogs&t=39s&ab_channel=SummersetNZ
But I could see them look at 5 or 6 for future developments if they can find the right sites
In Auckland 6 floors is certainly more common
https://www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz/retirement-villages/auckland/bert-sutcliffe
https://www.summerset.co.nz/find-a-village/auckland/summerset-st-johns/
Thanks Greenwelly – excellent bit of detective work there, and yes, of course, the Retirement Villages will surely be the biggest growth area on the Coast. I wonder what controls on quality do they have? Some Retirement Villages are great – others perhaps less so…?
It’s Kiwi Property whom I think own Sylvia Park. Up to 12 levels at Sylvia Park https://www.kiwiproperty.com/corporate/portfolio-summary/build-to-rent/
25 levels planned at Lynn Mall too.
25 levels – that is fantastic ! Not just because it is big, but because it shows proper grown-up thinking. We really need inner-city locations like New Lynn and Grey Lynn to be more built up and especially when they are well planned. Auckland needs to stop being a sprawl, and start being a metropolis.
If New Lynn is now inner-city, the battle against sprawl may already be lost.
Closer to home, the Horowhenua District Council’s population growth projections are startling – is Foxton the next Waikanae?
@starkive I doubt Foxton is the next Waikanae since there is no longer a rail connection there, my bet is on Shannon. Foxton is really good for retirement villages only, I would think, unless Levin ever gets big enough that people would want to commute there from Foxton (a 20 minute bus ride I guess).
Starkive – my apologies. I think I might be muddling New Lynn up with Old Lynn. Is Grey Lynn in the inner city, and New Lynn way out in the wopwops? I forget where these things are. Long time since I’ve been living in Auckland !!
I once worked for a company where I had three female bosses, all called Lynn. None of them were old, or new, or grey, but all were quite bubbly and keen on shopping. Fun times…
There’s no Old Lynn yet – wait for that to occur to Michael Bulgaris. There’s a West Lynn, which is what the early-adopter yuppies starting calling the Richmond Rd shops back when Grey Lynn was a synonym for Apia South. Then there’s Crown Lynn, where Greek restaurants used to buy seconds for the after-dinner plate smashing. Thanks to Roger Douglas, they’re history and their products have moved from the hospice shop to Webb’s Auctions.
New Lynn? Think Outrageous Fortune.
Every time I drive through Shannon I spy the old houses, run down and empty, right in the middle of town. It feels like death, only colder. Weeds four feet high in the front garden, right on the main road. Reports over the resurgence of Shannon as a place to invest in, to live in and to die in, are well exaggerated…
You may be right Alan, but then again, if you zip in now and buy that old cottage with the lawn, you may be laughing all the way to the bank in a few months when the prices soar wildly again…!
It feels like death, only colder.
Good line, Alan
Shannon, like Palmie and incidentally Otaki/ Manakau is the sort of service town that doesn’t look like much in the middle but has some surprisingly wealthy enclaves on the outskirts
Even places like Martinborough with its celebrated wine culture has about a dozen families of ratbags that everyone in the town knows cause most of the crime
New Lynn is I think the first stop on the train over the old auckland city council border and into the old Waitakere Council. In saying that, with the crl, I think it will only be about 20 minutes from Queen St, on a train that could theoretically go every 5 minutes.
The Auckland Unitary Plan is quite a weird document. Upzoned 10 or so metropolitan centres in far flung places – Manukau, Henderson, Albany, maybe Pukekohe. Though left inner suburban Auckland pretty much alone
theoretically, Conor. o think Greater Auckland is saying that trains will only be every 15mins during peak, and 30 minutes off peak. No 5 minute turnarounds in AKL….
Not quite, Nemo. According to https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2023/07/18/ats-2023-2031-public-transport-plan/ (quoting AT, I think):
“Both the East-West [Swanson-City-Manukau, including New Lynn] and Southern [Papakura-City-Otahuhu] lines will operate every 7 to 8 minutes at peak times (eight trains an hour, with exact intervals varying by line), and every 15 minutes throughout the day. Services will remain half hourly in the late evening, because of KiwiRail’s maintenance requirements. The doubling up of the Southern line between Ōtāhuhu and Newmarket means this section will have double frequency.”
On a related note, one of the few bright spots in National’s transport plan was they want to continue with lower north island rail improvements – more trains to Palmy, possibly with more stops, aswell as improvements to Wairarapa frequency and other improvements.
That is good – and truly extraordinary too. Chris Bishop, complete meathead that he is, has been proposed as National’s Minister for Everything, meaning that at present he is shadow minister for all things Transport – planes, trains and automobiles. And at a public meeting a couple of weeks back, he flat out stated that apart from the Capital Connection and the Featherston line, all the other Regional Rail initiatives like Huia (Hamilton to Aucland) and the proposed link to Tauranga, would be reassessed, or simply axed. But the roads would be going full bore ahead.
Is anyone still keen on a road tunnel to the Wairarapa?
Asking for a friend
Nope. Take the train !
Actually (and astonishingly) National propose to go one better than Labour in the lower North Island, going for 22 trains rather than Labour’s 18. But (and it’s a pretty big but) it’s the only new rail proposal in their entire plan (apart from a passing mention of the fourth main in Auckland as something to be investigated).
Apart from that it’s all roads – see https://www.national.org.nz/transportforthefuture.
Building blocks of flats near the train station seems a popular pastime.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-suburb-that-defied-nimby-a9bf4af9?mod=hp_lead_pos9