50-year vision for Bream Bay takes shape

Sea level rise and buffers between industry and houses have been factored into a long-term plan for Bream Bay.

The Whangarei District Council's Marsden Pt/Ruakaka structure plan sets a 30 to 50-year vision for the area, deemed essential for Whangarei's economic growth.

The plan caters for a predicted 900mm sea level rise over the next 100 years by changing low-lying farmland near Takahiwai estuary from a residential zone to open space.

It also provides an open space buffer between industry and housing, so there are no complaints from new houses about existing industry - known as reverse sensitivity.

Environment committee chairwoman and Bream Bay councillor Shelley Deeming says the visionary plan aims to allow residential and industrial development without them "treading on each others' toes".

The plan also protects strategic community assets such as Ruakaka Racecourse, the refinery and Northland's port, and the roads to them.

Environment manager Paul Dell says the aim is to have a balance between industrial and residential growth.

"I wouldn't like to see people living in Whangarei and having to commute every day out there. We'd like to see them live, work and play there."

The structure plan, which was finished after months of community consultation, replaces a previous plan finished in 2000.

However, unlike other structure plans, it will not be adopted into the district plan straight away and will remain a non-statutory planning document.

Councillor Merv Williams says current zones could provide enough room to grow for decades to come.

The council will not start the process of adding the structure plan into the district plan until there is a 60 percent uptake of existing land.

- © Fairfax NZ News