New home under construction
A controversial infill housing development has been approved by Waipā District Council commissioners and is bringing compact housing to Cambridge.
The consent – which is open to appeal – was granted for a 10-unit compact housing development at 47 Coleridge Street, Cambridge.
The decision was made by commissioners Claire St Pierre and Lou Brown – Waipā District Councillors – and Poto Davies.
The panel acknowledged the main concerns raised by those opposed to the development but granted the consent based on the information supplied by the Applicant, Zane Beckett of Meridian Asset Management.
Main concerns included the development being outside the compact housing overlay, higher density, residential character, traffic effects and infrastructure.
Council’s group manager district growth and regulatory Wayne Allan said the decision to grant consent reflected planning recommendations and the government’s stance to increasing housing density rather than taking up valuable productive land for new developments.
“Compact housing is one way to use infrastructure more efficiently while keeping a lid on urban sprawl. Waipā holds nine percent of the nation’s most productive high-quality soils, so we have a balancing act on providing more homes and maintaining surrounding amenity standards while protecting our fertile land for rural productive purposes.”
To allay submitters’ concerns about the appearance of the compact houses, on sections ranging between 185m2 and 243m2, Allan said the urban design elements provided with the application showed a range of different housing structures. The development was also peer reviewed by the Council’s independent Urban Design expert Sam Foster and deemed appropriate for the residential area.
The ten housing units will be incorporated into six buildings, a combination of duplex and stand-alone houses.
