Auckland City Council
Media release

27 March 2008

Mayor releases details of Orakei master plan arrangement with Redwood Group

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Auckland City Council and Redwood Group Ltd to prepare a master plan for development of the Orakei peninsula has been released by the Mayor of Auckland city, the Hon John Banks.

Mr Banks said it was important stakeholders and residents had a good understanding of the arrangement with the Redwood Group.

“I’m pleased that we can enter into such an open relationship with the developer. I hope this level of trust will also give residents extra confidence in the transparency of the process,” he said.

Mr Banks added that under the financial arrangements, the Redwood Group had agreed to fund the master plan with the proviso that it leads to the notification by the council of a public plan change for the area.

“If it does not reach the stage of public plan change notification then the council will be responsible for 50 per cent of Redwood’s planning costs to a maximum of $250,000. This is considerably less than the cost to ratepayers if we had to develop a master plan by ourselves.”

Under the terms of the MoU, council and the Redwood Group agree that outcomes of the master plan shall include highest quality design relevant to the setting, be well integrated with public transport, providing high quality public space including access to the water’s edge and be high performing in regard to environmental sustainability.

The final draft of the master plan including all community engagement is to be completed by 1 July 2008 and, following any amendments, will be put to the 14 August 2008 meeting of the City Development Committee.

“This is a most significant site and I can’t over emphasise the importance of delivering a development we can all be proud of,” said the Mayor.

Ends

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