Iain MacLean

District Plan panel cancels tower blocks

In a decision that’s likely to please Pukerua Bay residents, the latest version of the Porirua City Council Proposed District Plan has removed any possibility of high-density housing being built in Pukerua Bay.

Read the latest version of the Porirua City District Plan here.

Kāinga Ora had proposed that every part of Pukerua Bay within 800 metres of the train station should be rezoned as ‘high-density housing’, which would have allowed at least six-storey buildings taller than 22 metres. We were worried that the panel was going to agree to that proposal, or at least rezone all the land within 400 metres of the station, which was the original Kāinga Ora proposal.

PCC has accepted the latest version without change as the new proposed plan. In this, the whole of Pukerua Bay is now locked in as ‘medium density housing’, which is the default for the Wellington region. This allows for up to three houses of three storeys each (up to 12 metres high) to be built on all residential properties as a permitted activity (i.e. without needing a resource consent).

Many Pukerua Bay residents, including the Residents Association, sent in submissions opposing the high-density proposal, and the Association is very pleased to see there won’t be any here.

The current version can be appealed to the Environment Court, but unless the court makes any changes, the latest version will be the final operative plan everyone has to follow.

Climate change and resilience added to District Plan

We were also very pleased to see that the panel added a new section on climate change and resilience to the introduction to the District Plan variation that covers the new developments off Muri Road and the Mount Welcome deer farm (i.e. Variation 1 Northern Growth Area).

We had pointed out that there was no mention of the need to both build to anticipate and prevent the impact of climate change in the new developments, and not do anything that would make it any worse. The panel added proposed wording directly from our submission:

The development will incorporate design principles that anticipate the effects of climate change, to mitigate its impacts, to avoid contributing to it and to increase community resilience.

District Plan panel cancels tower blocks Read More »

August 2023 Residents Association meeting minutes

8 August 2023

Present: Paul FitzGerald, Iain McLean, Mel Galletly, Margaret Blair, Lenka Horanska, Jonathan Harker, Nikky Winchester, Chris Kirk-Burnnand (GWRC), Josh Trlin (PCC), Deepa Goswami (PCC Waste Minimisation Adviser).
Apologies: Moira Lawler, Gay Hay.
Approval of previous minutes: moved Jonathan, seconded Margaret, none opposed.

August 2023 Residents Association meeting minutes Read More »

Porirua Funders Expo on Wednesday October 5

Funders and support agencies will be on-hand on Thursday 5 October to help local groups as the Porirua Funders Expo is held again at Pātaka.

This event is for organisations looking for funds to support community-focused projects around sports, the arts, supporting youth, the environment, or other areas that provide local benefit.

For more info, including times and workshops, check out the attached poster.

Porirua Funders Expo on Wednesday October 5 Read More »

New constitution for Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association

The government has changed the legislation on incorporated societies (The Incorporated Societies Act 2022, passed on 6 April 2022), and this has some impact on both the Residents’ Association’s constitution and some of our practices. As a result, we need to change the constitution and have the changes approved by the Annual General Meeting on 11 October 2023.

New constitution for Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association Read More »

Kāinga Ora invites public feedback on the Porirua Northern Growth Area proposed key features

Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities is inviting the public to provide feedback on proposed key features of a potential Specified Development Project (SDP) for the Porirua Northern Growth Area (NGA).

According to Kāinga Ora, the SDP process “supports collaboration between the public and private sectors and mana whenua, and is a tool that can be used to plan and deliver complex and transformational urban development projects, helping address Aotearoa New Zealand’s housing shortage.”

SDPs allow Kāinga Ora to take over some of the rule-making powers from local councils to ensure that multiple developments are integrated with each other and the surroundings. It’s intended to avoid issues where infrastructure is inadequate for growth and funding is not sorted out before work starts. It can also make sure issues like provisions for extra public transport, roading and schools are sorted early on in the process by working with the government agencies responsible for them.

Map of Porirua Northern Growth Area

The Northern Growth Area is around 1000 hectares of greenfield land in northern Porirua, primarily made up of seven major land blocks. It is the farmland between Camborne and Pukerua Bay, mostly on the eastern side of State Highway 59, and includes the Mt Welcome deer farm and the Muri block being developed by Barber Commercial (i.e., Jennian Homes).

This area has been identified by the Porirua City Council and the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee as suitable for future urban growth. In August 2022, it was selected for assessment as a potential SDP under the Urban Development Act 2020.

Since then, Kāinga Ora has been working in partnership with Porirua City Council and Ngāti Toa Rangatira to assess whether the NGA should be recommended for establishment as an SDP.

Here is a diagram of the SDP process (PDF). Kāinga Ora in Porirua is currently at step 1 (‘Kāinga Ora carries out initial assessment’).

Kāinga Ora is inviting people to find out more about the proposed key features and provide feedback on the proposed project area, objectives, and governance body, between 31 August and 29 September 2023.

They have organised two local drop-in sessions, which we are all welcome to attend:

  • St Andrews Church Hall, 11 Steyne Avenue, Plimmerton, 5pm–7.30pm Thursday 7 September 2023
  • Pukerua Bay RSA, 5 Wairaka Road, Pukerua Bay, 2pm–4pm, Saturday 16 September 2023.

You can also make a submission online: Online feedback form on the proposed SDP

If you can’t do either of these things but would like to know more, call 0800 801 601 and the Kāinga Ora team will organise for someone to speak with you. You can direct enquiries to sdp.enquiries@kaingaora.govt.nz.

Please note, this isn’t about the proposal in the District Plan for 6-storied buildings in Pukerua Bay. That is being considered by the panel that heard submissions on the District Plan earlier this year, and we are all waiting to hear the outcome of that. That’s out of our hands now.

Documents and useful links

Kāinga Ora invites public feedback on the Porirua Northern Growth Area proposed key features Read More »