The Local - Mt Victoria“Significant change” is what the new District Plan envisages for Mt Victoria, and neighbours should expect to lose the privacy, sunlight and other amenities they have enjoyed to date, as higher buildings are introduced.
That’s the message emerging from the resource consent decision issued by the Wellington City Council regarding the first real test of the new high-density rules: the Mayfair apartment block proposed for Austin Street.
The Mayfair developer proposes removing the footpath along the narrow driveway to allow trucks and machinery to pass. This is opposed by the other users of the accessway, who are joint owners.
The resource consent application is to construct a seven-storey apartment building containing 32 residential units, 29 carparks and 25 cycle parks, with associated earthworks and ground works. The application also requests subdivision of the site.
The council has formally notified just four households as part of considering the resource consent for the controversial development, despite requests from many neighbours to be part of the legal process.
In the decision document the council says it believes the new high-density rules for the area mean there was no obligation to notify any properties at all, and it has only notified the four along Westbourne Grove because the applicant requested it.
The council’s planning officer says the council has considered potential adverse effects but concludes they are not beyond what is expected in the new District Plan, which has introduced rules that encourage much more high density.
The report acknowledges that the development will “generate a level of bulk and dominance effects on surrounding properties, and the neighbourhood generally, that are significantly greater than the existing residential environment”, and that it may have privacy impacts.
However, the report says this is an unavoidable consequence of high-density developments, and that the apartment block is exactly the kind of development expected in the District Plan:
“In the High Density Residential Zone, increased density with associated tall buildings and more intensive development are a desired urban form outcome. The policy direction of this zoning seeks to provide for buildings of at least six stories, and the proposal represents an outcome sought by this policy.”
Except for areas with heritage or character protection, Mount Victoria is now zoned for high density development.
“While neighbouring residents have raised concerns about the proposal’s visibility and character effects, I note that the zoning no longer affords character protection to the site and instead envisages significant change. On this basis, and taking into account expert advice, I consider the height and bulk to be appropriate and consistent with outcomes encouraged by District Plan policy.”
One of the neighbours, Ralph Highnam, said the four properties would respond as a collective.
“We are as one in our determination to protect our property rights and community.”
One of the issues that had caught the attention of the neighbours was the proposal to remove the pedestrian footpath. The access way is jointly owned by all the properties along it.
Highnam said the group was “geared and organised for the long run”.
“We continue to want to see appropriate and respectful development.”
The four were given 20 working days to put forward their views on the development, which were due on 7 November.
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