Mall debate goes to hearing

RHIANNON HORRELL

A BID to dramatically increase the size of Westfield St Lukes has started to unfold at a hearing this week.

A private plan change hearing, which started on Monday and is expected to run until the end of the month, will see Auckland City Council hearing commissioners hear the views of St Lukes residents and Westfield representatives about the proposed changes.

Plans unveiled last year would see the floor area expand to more than nine hectares, effectively doubling the size of the mall. About 800 submissions were received on the proposal.

Members of the St Lukes Residents Association have strongly opposed the extension of Exeter Rd, which would meet with Aroha Ave, acting as a through-route for mall traffic.

Westfield counsel Derek Nolan told commissioners on Monday that Westfield's aspiration is to comprehensively and sustainably develop the St Lukes site to provide a long-term community asset.

"Westfield needs to deliver a project to rejuvenate the existing St Lukes town centre by introducing fresh elements including opportunities for additional retailers, plus a boutique mainstreet-style shopping precinct, improved pedestrian linkages and new community areas," Mr Nolan said.

"A number of submitters allege that the scale of the proposal is excessive and represents an over-development for the neighbourhood in which it is located. This is not accepted in any respect by Westfield."

A pre-hearing council report, dated May 24, has given preliminary approval to the plan change.

"Overall, it is concluded that the proposed plan change will promote sustainable management, and it is therefore appropriate to recommend approval, subject to modifications and the resolution of a number of matters at the hearing," says the report.

Required modifications from the council include width limits to Exeter Rd shop fronts, the provision of a 600-square-metre open space area or pedestrian plaza on the Morningside Drive and Exeter Rd corner and a travel plan to be implemented within three months of the plan change taking place.

It also calls for particular attention to be paid to Aroha Ave shop hours and seeks consideration of stormwater piping to Meola Creek.

However, Westfield disagrees with many of the modifications.

Aroha Ave residents have been angered by the report and say the council's own planners had repeatedly stressed the detrimental effects of a road from the mall into their street.

"The bizarre thing is they emphasise the negativity of the impact but the suggested solutions to mitigate it don't address the very problem they've raised," says resident Graham Dekker.

"The report shows pure laziness and bias in their thinking," says another resident Anne Harwood.

"The issue is traffic volumes and they're recommending cars queue up on a residential road with speed bumps instead."

Association members say they are not against mall improvements but want Westfield to better utilise the large commercial facing areas they already have.

The hearing has been set down until June 30.

- © Fairfax NZ News