Golf club drives holes through Palmerston North housing plan

Plans to build upmarket homes on Palmerston North’s former Hokowhitu campus have been sliced into the rough by its prestigious neighbour.

The Manawatū Golf Club has told commissioners the plan to change its zoning from institutional to residential is so flawed, it should be thrown out.

And commissioners have agreed that it needs more work, and will be directing the city council, the club and landowner Wallace Development to take time out to try to resolve their differences.

Massey University sold the 10-hectare site to Wallace Development, which plans a high-quality, staged housing development of up to 130 homes.

But golf club lawyer John Maassen said the lack of consultation between the city council and landowner with the club had left large gaps in the rules and controls for the land’s future use.

Maassen usually acts for the city council in planning matters, but in this case jumped the fence.

He said the plan change seemed to support the landowner’s commercial interests, without balanced consideration of the effects on the wider area, especially on the golf course.

Maassen said the rules intended to protect the rights of the existing institutional uses were so ambiguous they provided the possibility a new office block half the size of the IRD building could be constructed.

But the key issues were about the lack of appreciation about how critical it was to manage the boundary between golfers driving off the tees and families enjoying their backyards.

The club called five witnesses, including former Manawatu Standard sports editor, and author of an updated history being prepared for the clubs’s 125th anniversary, Peter Lampp.

He described the course as the most pristine and best-groomed outdoor sports facility in Manawatū.

Key to the club’s concerns were that new residential neighbours would complain about the golf club’s activities, such as the noise of mowing and grounds work, stray golf balls, and trees shading their properties and blocking views.

The club saw retention of trees as critical to enclose the golf course, prevent views from buildings on to the course, and reduce the risk of errant golf balls damaging property or hurting people.

The council has proposed measures to allay the golf club’s fears, including noise controls, sound insulation for bedrooms, and the use of toughened glass for course-facing windows.

Wallace had also suggested “no-complaint” covenants on section titles to prevent new neighbours from complaining about any nuisance effects.

Panel chairman Chris Mitchell said the commissioners did not want to throw the plan change out, but agreed there were many issues to clarify.

That included the status of the proposed structure plan for the new suburb, the definition of proposed reserves on the block, techniques to resolve potential boundary conflicts, what Centennial Drive would look like, and how potential traffic congestion would be monitored and addressed.

The hearing was to resume on Friday morning so one last submitter could speak, and to work out how long it would take to come up with fresh proposals that might allow the rezoning to be approved.

Source: Stuff