A new 42-home subdivision at Amberley has been given the go ahead despite concerns about traffic and water management.
The Hurunui District Council has backed a recommendation from independent commissioner Andrew Willis to rezone a 4ha section on Amberley Beach Rd from rural to residential.
Some councillors expressed concerns about drainage, but council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said it will be subject to a separate stormwater resource consent application to Environment Canterbury (ECan).
Everlasting Developments Ltd applied to build a subdivision on a 4ha section on Amberley Beach Rd earlier this year, for 42 sections with an average size of 700 square metres.
The council received 10 submissions, with a mix of views expressed.
Submitters opposed to the application raised concerns about increased traffic volumes and stormwater, while supporters said it would bring much needed housing for Amberley.
Dobbie said this decision was about zoning and stormwater would be addressed.
As the development will sit outside the boundary of the council’s stormwater consent, the applicant will be responsible for applying for the resource consent and meeting ECan’s requirements.
“The maintenance of it will fall to the council, but there will be 42 new units contributing rates by then,” Dobbie said.
Councillor Robbie Bruerton expressed concerns about drainage, but supported the re-zoning.
“There’s concerns around wastewater which we need to keep an eye on, but it does tick more good boxes than bad boxes for me.”
Everlasting Developments Ltd is owned by an Amberley builder Marty Murchison.
This is his first project as the developer.
“I’m pretty excited to be developing in Amberley where I have been building since 2016,” he said.
“There’s been a strong demand for people wanting to move to Amberley and we haven’t had the sections available to us, so this is pretty exciting.”
Murchison said he has been working on the documentation for stormwater and other consents and hopes to begin work early next year.
“I’m aware of the concerns, but we have our engineer and the council has its engineer, so people can have peace of mind that it will be considered.
“We don’t want this development to fail.”
The council will now notify the plan change decision, which is subject to a 30-day appeal period to the Environment Court.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
