Planner wants 12-storey cap for Amaia

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A hearing on the application in Takapuna was adjourned while the panel seeks more information. A council spokesperson said any decision was likely a month or more away.

The Takapuna Residents Association (TRA), the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB) and a number of Hauraki residents are among the 55 submitters on the plan change.

Their written views were filed late last year. Some residents chose to appear in person when the application was considered over two days in the Takapuna War Memorial Hall. The panel also made a site visit.

Environmental and traffic concerns and buidling shading and scale were among issues raised in submissions, as well as whether promises for public access would be delivered with an intensified site.

Other matters brought to the panel’s attention including a slip that occurred at the rear of the site in the January floods.

One submitter, Takapuna resident and TRA member Sandra Allen, told the Observer some concerns of residents had been brushed aside by the panel as out of scope.

TRA chair Steven Salt told the Observer outside of the hearing that a challenge with responding appropriately to plans at Amaia was that they kept changing.

He said: “Initially it was promoted as having a community benefit and that the natural environment would be central to the development. Now there has to be real concerns about that.”

Public links through the site to a proposed council walkway and cycleway from Esmonde Rd to Francis St were to have been part of the original development, but with no council funding for the connection this aspect has gone by the wayside. Green space within the site is also much reduced from the

No quick fix for red-light frustration

Unnecessary red-light stops on Esmonde Rd seem unlikely to end anytime soon.

Motorists have been frustrated for months following the failure of sensors at the intersection of the Amaia development, which has forced Auckland Transport (AT) to introduce a timed light cycle.

That means regular red lights for motor- plans that won original consent, due to the extra buildings.

In its initial promotions in 2021, Amaia – fronted by engineer Dean Kimpton, then a consultant to the owners, and a former council council chief operating officer who was recently appointed head of Auckland Transport – made much of its urban village design and environmental credentials.

Planner Wilkinson made her recommendation to turn down so-called Plan Change 85 at 48 Esmonde Rd subject to contrary or additional information being received.

“If the recommendations made in this ists even when no vehicles are waiting to exit the development. report regarding maximum building height are agreed; and the requests for additional information and clarification of coastal hazard, open space and public access matters are satisfactorily provided and accepted, then my recommendation on the plan change and submissions would need to be amended,” she said.

North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills has contacted AT about the problem: “Being delayed because of fresh air is when people get frustrated,” he said.

But AT said there was no timeline for when the sensors would be back operating.

As it stood, she had concerns there were potential conflicts with national, regional and district objectives related to building height, the effects of climate change, including sea-level rise and provision of open space and public access to the coast.

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Medallists inspire athletics club’s next generation

Olympic bronze medallist Eliza McCartney has rejoined the club where she started her athletics career as a Devonport schoolgirl.

The surprise guest was a popular sight at Takapuna Athletics Club’s prizegiving last weekend, joining fellow New Zealand representative pole-vaulter Imogen Ayris, who launched a fund to help families struggling with club membership fees. Both women contributed boxes of new training shoes to a silent auction to get the fund going.

McCartney told the Flagstaff it felt right knowing she would once again compete in the blue-and-yellow singlet. “I still feel so strongly because Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) also had the same colours,” she added.

McCartney, 26, said high jump had been her favourite event when she started competing for the club at age 10 or 11. But she ended up shifting to the Harbour Bays Club because it was then the only club to have vaulting poles.

McCartney’s career has been reignited by a strong summer season after a long struggle with injuries.

For Ayris, 22, who followed McCartney through TGS, her time as an all-rounder at the Takapuna club started when she was six. She does not want cost to be a barrier for youngsters following in her footsteps. “It was always the highlight of the week.”

Although 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ayris trains with McCartney at the Millenium Stadium, she is still a regular at Onewa Domain, helping out on club nights.

Club membership has grown to 450 children and adults, while some other clubs have struggled post-Covid. Prizegiving was split across two ceremonies late last month.

The example of top athletes is among the drawcards. Commonweath Games shotput silver medallist Jacko Gill also trains there.

Ayris and McCartney head to Europe to compete next month. McCartney has qualified for the world championships in Hungary in August, while Ayris has yet to make the cut.