Ironically named "Lifestyle Village" proposed near SunnyO

SunnyO is in a zone designated "Rural". However, it is quite near to residential land & State Highway 1.

A local developer has applied for consent to take 3.6 hectares of Otaki Maori Racing Club land & turn it into 56 "lifetyle" units (plus one manager's residence), to be sold to people over 50 years old (i'm not quite sure about the reasoning for this).

3.6 Ha & 57 units? Do the math. Nice "lifestyle".

The developer, Mr R Ker, and his surveyor, Mark Edgar of Cuttriss Consultants insist that the land is residential (smoke & mirrors - it is zoned Rural & in any case, their proposal flouts residential rules!) & they believe they should be able to inflict 57 ticky tacky units on a shoebox of land, in a rural cul de sac which currently serves olive plantations, a racecourse, a stud farm & SunnyO.

Radio New Zealand National - Checkpoint

Mr Ker can be heard in the clip above insisting that local residents (such as me) are over reacting or some such, given (repeat the lie often enough...) the land is residential.

Mr Ker, it is not, and you know it, and locals do not want high density residential developments on the front doorstep of what is clearly, a country lane.

Cripes, we're not even on town water! No-one in the street is. And I don't fancy the run off from 56 ticky tacky units (and one manager's residence) polluting my drinking water!

The Kapiti Coast District Council began promisingly enough, by criticising the proposal for attempting to set a precedent of annexing productive arable rural land for dreadful subdivisions. But they seem to be backing down, implying tacit approval for the project should certtain information be supplied.

It should be turned down flat. The land will probably be needed for growing biofuel in a few years. Or food.

But anyway, as Peter Campbell said (neighbour & first person interviewed on checkpoint) in his submission, this proposal fails to meet any of the rules governing rural land use (and most rules governing residential land use), why are we wasting our time with it?