Some Awakeri residents fear plans to grow Awakeri by over 1000 new homes could be an expensive mistake future generations will pay for.

Whakatāne District Council’s consultation on the draft Awakeri Structure Plan closes today.

The council says the plan is a starting point for considering how Awakeri could grow, not a final decision on where or how development could happen.

Awakeri couple Patricia and Allan Macaulay say the highly compressible peat soil in Awakeri is too unstable for heavy structures.

Their house at the Awakeri end of White Pine Bush Road is built on eight-metre piles down to the bedrock due to the peaty soil. While it is well supported, they have undergone considerable expense to replace surrounding infrastructure since they bought it six years ago.

Subsidence of drains, pipes and other structures has them wishing they had stayed at their former home in Ōhope.

“You can build here, but it’s very expensive,” Allan Macaulay said.

“We’ve had major problems and it’s been a great cost to us to remedy that. We’ve spent over $100,000 on new concrete works on this place. That’s moved already. It’s sunk two inches in two years.

“Now they’re going to build a subdivision on this land. Everything will move. All of their footpaths will sink.”

It is an area marked on the draft plan for potential large-lot residential development – equating to one residence per 4000 square metres.

However, peat soil, at lesser measurements also covers areas marked for medium and general density development.

The Macaulays, who are both in their 70s, understand they may not be around to see this happen.

“More than likely, a spade won’t hit the ground until we’re in the ground ourselves,” Allan Macaulay said.

However, after their own experience they are worried about developers “wanting to make a quick dollar” at the expense of future homeowners.

“We could afford to cope with that, but some young people won’t be able to,” Patricia Macaulay said.

“They’re just looking for a disaster. We can’t roll over and die on this one.”

John Howard, whose family has farmed in Awakeri for multiple generations, has concerns about future developments leading to further flooding.

“We have flooding issues as it is,” he said.

His land was underwater for 25 days in early autumn this year.

“We’ve only had one grazing off it since then.”

He fears covering large areas with hard surfaces will make matters worse.

“It will have flow on effects,” he said.

He said the peat soil, while deeper in some areas of Awakeri than others, covered a wide area and would cause difficulties for future builds.

“It’s moving all the time. [A development] is a stupid idea.”

He felt land owners should have more of a say in plans being drawn up for their land.

“It’s all right if it’s all a greenfield’s site. But you’re actually working within other people’s land. They’ve gone and drawn a lot of lines over a lot of people’s titles.”

The council’s planning, regulatory and transportation general manager, David Bewley, said the council recognised the concerns raised by Awakeri residents and landowners.

“Particularly around ground conditions, flooding and drainage, and the potential impacts of future development on their properties.

“The draft Awakeri Structure Plan is a starting point for considering how Awakeri could grow. Further work is needed to better understand the ground conditions in different parts of Awakeri and how potential issues, including stormwater management, could be addressed if development progresses.”

He said the draft plan was an early step in the process and did not confirm zoning or approve development.

“It will help inform the wider Bay of Plenty Regional Spatial Plan, which will be open to public submissions and reviewed by an independent hearings panel before councils make their decisions.”

Further investigation into ground conditions, flooding and drainage would be needed as planning progressed, before decisions are made about future development, he said.

Council planning staff have said flood and drainage modelling for the area showed plans would stand up to the most extreme climate change scenarios for the next 100 years.

Bewley said the next stage of work would build on the existing work rather than involve an independent peer review of the current modelling.

A Community Reference Group had been established by the council early on in the design process to provide local feedback. This, along with feedback from the consultation, would be considered before further decisions were made about adopting the draft plan.

Crowdfunding may be sought for transparency

Awakeri resident Patricia Macaulay is “furious” at being sent a “bill” for an official request for information from the council and is considering setting up a crowdfunding page to pay the cost.

Macaulay has sought detailed information about growth plans for Awakeri, not included in the Draft Awakeri Structure Plan.

She has submitted five lengthy Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act requests to Whakatāne District Council, each with several lengthy questions.

She has also submitted requests to Bay of Plenty Regional Council; Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport; and New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi.

The information requested from the district council includes source documents for plans, details on the project budget, identities of staff, contractors and subcontactors working on the project, and professional indemnity cover.

Some of the information requested is already publicly available in documents or recordings of public meetings on the council’s website and YouTube channel.

The council has responded to her requests with a $4450 estimate of the cost of fulfulling the request, saying the information would take up to 26 hours of council staff time to gather and review.

A statement from the council said that, under the act, it can recover fair and reasonable costs associated with responding to information requests.

“In this case, the resident has submitted several requests, each containing several detailed questions, requiring time to gather and review the information needed to respond,” a spokesperson said.

Along with the estimated cost of fulfilling the request, the council has also outlined options to narrow the requests and reduce the cost of the information request, including focusing on information that is not already publicly available.