Clevedon Residents Reject Canal Village

Clevedon residents have comprehensively rejected the 'Wairoa River Maritime
Village' development, in the second round of submissions on the Manukau City
Council's Proposed Plan Change.

Over 240 submissions from the greater Clevedon area opposed the scheme,
compared to only 40 in favour - a ratio of 6 to 1.

A small majority of all those making submissions supported the Plan Change,
with 411 either fully or partly in favour and 361 opposed. However, the
overwhelming majority of those supporting the change came from outside the
Clevedon area.

"Typically, those favouring the Plan Change simply signed a pro forma
submission produced by the developers and added no further information as to
why they supported the move," says Clevedon CARES spokesperson, Mary
Whitehouse.

"We sincerely trust that Manukau City Council will take note of the breadth
of local opposition to the Plan Change and roundly reject the change when
the Hearings Committee meets to decide the issue," she says, adding that the
formal Hearing is now expected to take place in October.

The Wairoa River Maritime Village development would involve 297 homes built
in close proximity to each other on man-made canals near the river's
estuary. The Plan Change involves rezoning land to cope with the
requirements of the Resource Management Act.

"The housing project would more than double our local population, placing a
huge strain on the local infrastructure, destroying Clevedon's unique
village-like atmosphere and compromising the rural character of the Clevedon
Valley," says Mary Whitehouse.

"As the canal development is for residential use only, the shops, businesses
and services required by the new homes would need to be built in Clevedon
itself or in our local countryside.

"An additional concern is that, once rezoning becomes possible, the door
will be open for a wide range of other development projects which will
further disrupt and alter our local environment.

"The Plan Change is also opposed by the Auckland Regional Council, which is
concerned to limit Auckland's growth out into the countryside," she adds.

Although the deadline for submissions has passed, opponents of the canal
development are still able to add their names to Clevedon CARES' online
petition at www.clevedoncares.co.nz

Ends

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