A new funeral home on the site of the now closed Lyceum Club site in Cambridge is among 87 approved land use consents issued by Waipā District Council in the first six months of the year.
Another 40 were pending a consent decision on June 30.
In the same period, the council issued 515 building consents.
The News sought the information from the council on July 3. On July 11 the Lgoima (Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act) response team responded acknowledging the request.
Wayne Allan
Until this year readers of The News have seen the figures in news stories after they appeared in quarterly activity reports presented to councillors by Growth and Regulatory services group manager Wayne Allan.
The reports no longer appear in council agendas and the council decided our request should be filed under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, which is designed to increase the availability of official information and provides for a 20-day time limit to provide answers. The council provided the information on July 15 and 16.
The News has sought comment from Allan.
The Lyceum Club closed in December after distributing thousands of dollars to five Cambridge organisations from the proceeds of the $900,000 sale of its Dick Street property four years ago. The building was demolished earlier this year, and earthworks are now underway for the funeral home, located in the Cambridge A Character Precinct.
Regent Theatre
Other notable land use consents approved include:
- A specialist medical centre at 63 Shakespeare Street, Leamington (currently home to Pet Stock).
- The removal of a protected English oak tree outside Woolworths supermarket.
- Retrospective consent for 21 standalone cabins, ablution facilities, and a pole shed, with dining, kitchen, and laundry areas, for seasonal workers at Kaipaki Berries.
- Oversized illuminated signage and repainting at the Regent Theatre in Te Awamutu, as required in the Character Precinct.
- A digital sign at Te Awamutu Presbyterian Church on Mutu Street, despite breaches of site relevance and internal illumination standards.
- A healthcare facility in Rukuhia focused on rehabilitation and respite care for 10 patients, with three daytime and one nighttime staff.
Work on a high-profile corner site at Hamilton Road and Victoria Street in Cambridge – opposite St Andrew’s Anglican Church – is awaiting approval for subdividing and the construction of two duplex houses under new medium-density residential zone rules. The site has previously been a popular location for local election billboards.
Among other developments yet to be approved are 15 terraced units at Hamilton Rd in Cambridge, retrospective consent for artificial crop protection structures and shelterbelts in 3693 Cambridge Rd, Leamington and a commercial development on the corner of Te Rerenga Tce and Cambridge Rd.
Meanwhile two outstanding consent applications of interest for a quarry operation in Oreipunga Rd, Maungatautari and an Arvida retirement village at 151 Maungatautari Rd are both on hold awaiting further information. A new application for 96 villas and 20 apartments on the Maungatautari Rd site has recently been lodged
The Maungatautari quarry has been under scrutiny since The News revealed in April 2022 it was operating without a resource consent and had been doing so for at least five years. The council suspended operations at the site – the same month.
At the time, Beacon Hill Contracting – the quarry operator – had four shareholders, including former Waipā councillor Elwyn Andree-Wiltens, who resigned due to a conflict of interest. She had not disclosed her involvement in the unconsented quarry.
She and her husband Albert, who stepped down as director in December 2022, transferred their shares in March 2023 to their son’s family trust.
See: Building consents
See: Landuse consents
Cambridge Lyceum Club – gone
