PRESS RELEASE
Available for Immediate Publication
Orewa, 2nd February.

Council To Demand Clarification

The Rodney District Council could be calling on the Auckland Regional Council to clarify what it describes as conflicting statements regarding the Orewa Growth Strategy.

Rodney councillor Penny Webster, who addressed a meeting yesterday of residents opposed to high rise development in Orewa, says she was incensed by comments made by ARC councillor Christine Rose saying the ARC was not forcing growth on Rodney.

“That is at complete variance with what we in Rodney and no doubt other councils in the region understood and agreed to. In the ARC’s Regional Growth Strategy and Regional Policy Statement we were told that urban intensification is a good thing and that it provides for more efficient infrastructure such as transport.

“On top of that, they (the ARC) have been making submissions on recent resource consent applications telling us that developments are not intensive enough!

“Perhaps Ms Rose should now stand up and tell us and those people at yesterday’s meeting how that ties in with her claim that the ARC is not forcing growth on Rodney.”

Councillor Webster says she was put in an invidious position at the meeting, and even at one point called a liar, because of a widely circulated email from Ms Rose that Mrs Webster describes as “unproductive, disappointing and confusing.”

Mrs Webster says her attempts to simply state the facts, including the participation and role of the ARC in helping determine the future of Orewa, was misconstrued by many at the meeting in the light of the seemingly conflicting statements by Ms Rose.

Fellow councillors Bill Smith and Thomas Grace, who also attended the meeting, echoed Mrs Webster’s comments, saying they too were concerned at what they saw as a major shift in the ARC’s stance.

“It is not quite clear whether Christine Rose is representing the ARC’s views here, but until we can clarify that, we have to assume she is. And what she is saying has implications throughout Rodney and for every council in the region,” says Mr Smith.

He says he will be asking for an extraordinary general meeting of the Rodney District Council and a letter to be sent to the chairperson and chief executive officer of the ARC seeking their views on Councillor Rose’s comments.

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