The hearing for the proposed private plan change to rezone 287 hectares in the Maitai Valley begun last week with the plan's applicant and the public delivering arguments for and against the plan.
The proposed plan by CCKV Developments and Bayview Nelson would involve building hundreds of homes in Kākā Valley. Photo: LDR / Nelson Weekly
The private plan change was submitted by CCKV Developments and Bayview Nelson to Nelson City Council and would see the land within Kākā Valley and along Botanical and Malvern Hills rezoned to allow for the construction of 750 new homes in the area.
CCKV's Andrew Spittal says the housing crisis has been a concern for him and he sees the development as a way to alleviate some of the pressure.
"We've got an opportunity and an obligation to build something here for the future."
Spittal added that he disagreed with the view that the proposed development was a purely money-driven venture, citing the company's efforts in conservation in the area as well as its cooperation and engagement with iwi.
"Those are things you don't do if you're in it for a quick buck," he said. "We should be looking at how can we develop this for the new generation."
CCKV and Bayview legal representative John Maassen also commended the applicants for the extent to which they have engaged with iwi and mana whenua during the plan's development.
"We brought iwi on board because they are the biggest landowner up in the Maitai area; it was also the right thing to do," said Spittal.
Ngāti Koata representative Matt Hippolite spoke in favour of the plan change.
He referenced the iwi's ongoing conservation and regeneration efforts on Kākā Hill, of which the iwi had recently been transferred ownership.
"Kaitiakitanga cannot be practised from afar. You need to be able to connect with the area both physically and spiritually to be able to experience the unique wairua and mauri that exists."
Ngāti Koata Trust chair Melanie McGregor also voiced her support for the proposed plan change especially given the housing crisis.
"This development provides us with possibilities only dreamt of by a few of our iwi and out of reach for many others," she said.
"I do wonder about my own mokopuna; how will they provide for themselves in the future? It is actually projects like this that will make it possible."
However, the proposal is deeply unpopular with some residents who believe the recreational and natural benefits of the Kākā Valley must be protected.
The Save the Maitai organisation opposes the development and wants to preserve valley's rural character and open space.
The group's counsel Sally Gepp said public expectation, especially as codified in the regional policy statement, must be considered when urban expansion is proposed.
"The clear community expectation for a very long time has been that the Maitai Valley would be retained as a place for open space and recreation rather than for urban development."
Gepp added that intensification could provide housing capacity to meet demand until 2051 and that there was no shortfall in short to medium-term housing capacity in the city.
She went on to say that the plan change had not demonstrated a commitment to good environmental outcomes regarding the natural landscape, stormwater and catchment hydrology, earthworks, and climate impacts.
"The Maitai is fundamentally the wrong place for urban-type development," she said.
"We are dealing with a sensitive receiving environment, it's sensitive both in terms of its biophysical characteristics - its biodiversity, its assimilative capacity - but also because of the amenity value of these places."
Gepp also voiced Save the Maitai's concerns about the lack of research put forward by the plan's applicants into potential earthworks, saying that sediment discharge could be flushed down the river and into the Maitai Estuary even if best practice was followed.
"You [the commissioners] need to be confident at this stage that the activities that are anticipated by the objectives and policies and rules that would be put in place are appropriate and sufficient to protect the environment."
Friday 22 July is the last day of the hearing after which point the independent commissioners will use the evidence to make a recommendation on the private plan change to Nelson City Council.
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