Waimarino district scheme review to continue

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 275, 21 February 1989, Page 12

Waimarino district scheme review to continue

Waimarino's town planner has been asked to re-draft the district scheme, but he has views on planning that are new to Waimarino councillors.

Councillors and the town planner discussed the draft review of the District Scheme at a recent council meeting. The scheme is a combination of the schemes from the three former Waimarino authorities. Councillors decided to continue with the review, despite the impending amalgamation, until the advertising

stage so the Ruapehu District Council will have an indication from the Waimarino District Council. Rural subdividing How to control the break-up of land blocks could take a change in direction if Mr Fox's views are reflected in the final schemQ. Until now councils

have tried to restrict subdivision of rural blocks by imposing a minimum subdivision size, that is 20 hectares. Use, not size Mr Fox told the council he believes proposed land-use should determine whether a particular subdivision should be allowed. "The real question is not how big it is, but how it's being used," said Mr Fox. He said a scheme which looked at land

use rather than size would mean more ad hoc type decisions, "but you're the people elected to guide the development of the district, so what's wrong with that?" English system To counter Mr Fox Cr Griffiths cited the English system which he said had restricted buildings to villages, leaving the countryside rural. Mr Fox said the English system was "diabolical", that it was a huge bureaucracy with too much control. Mayor Workman said "I guess we've been ingrained into a certain sort of thinking over the years. You're like a nudist walking in and asking us to take off all our clothes." Cr Punch said there would always be a demand for smaller rural blocks, such as hobby farms, in the rural ward when such blocks in the urban areas of Raetihi and Ohakune are charged higher rates because they are fully serviced. Mr Fox said the reason for stopping 10 acre subdivisions was that they were seen to be taking land out of production. "You make it a 50 acre block, you take out 50 acres from production," he said. Unproductive land "The theory behind the 50 acres was that 10 acres would sit there with a couple of ponies and a few sheep on lots of rank grass with a fence around it," said Cr Bennett. "But with 50 acres not used, they'll let it to the neighbours or lease it or do something with it, they won't let it sit." "That might be the theory but I can show you blocks to counter

that," said the planner. he said he had figures to show urban development that gave a higher return than the previous horticultural use of the land. Restricting land use "The answer is not to say you restrict the land area but to say you don't allow that use," he said. He told councillors of another district that did not allow hobby farms within a ten mile radius of the urban area. He said the present scheme had become very complicated in its rules for building on rural properties and needed to be simplified. "There are two schools f thought about it - which side are you going to come down on, or are you going to try to sit in the middle," said Mr Fox. The town planner was asked how an application such as one the council had heard that day, were a property owner wanted to subdivide a block into three 4.2 hectare sections, would fare under his scheme. "In my book that piece of land has not got any great farming value and I would imagine it was of more value to the county and the economy of this district if it was used some other way," said Mr Fox. Precedent Cr Bennett said he thought the danger in that would be the precedent it set. He said there were ratepayers who would look at subdividing large blocks into lots of ten acre blocks. They want to divide 120 acres into 12 ten acre blocks, he said. "Well what's wrong

with that?" asked the planner. "If it's on the Ohakune Borough boundary we might have something wrong with it," said Cr Griffiths. Mr Fox agreed that sort of thing was what the council needed to think about, because occupiers of such properties would demand urban services. Cr Griffiths said such properties would be in direct conflict with the urban areas, and would threaten the viability of urban areas. New district "Is the new (Ruapehu District) council going to take any notice of our discussion here," asked Cr Thompson. Cr Griffiths said he didn't think the Taumarunui County Council, who are to be part of the Ruapehu District, would accept Mr Fox's arguments. Cr Bennett suggested opinions of rural people should be sought on the scheme before it reached the calling of objections stage. Cr Thompson suggested the council should be looking at the Taumarunui scheme for direction, but Cr Griffiths said the reason for the WDC discussion was to find out what the W aimarino wanted. Capital valuation "I don't see any problem with subdivisions providing we went to capital valuations but the chances of getting into capital valuation are nil„" said Cr Bennett. "So you're worried about people going out and building million

dollar houses in the county?" asked Mr Fox. "Not as far as the rural area is concerned but possibly for the urban areas," said Cr Bennett. "The town planner's argument is that if people go somewhere else such as Horopito, then there's something wrong with Raetihi and Ohakune," said Cr Griffiths. "What I'm saying is if a particular land use is satisfactory, why not let it (be approved)," said Mr Fox. Councillors discussed the changes in zoning of rural land in the draft scheme, which would see just a rural A zone and a rural A1 sub zone. Mr Fox's reasoning for doing away with the other zones was that market forces would dictate whether land was used for, say forestry or horticulture or pastoral farming. "If someone has 200 acres and 50 acres is of no use but for forestry, why not let him use it for that?", he asked. Forestry ln reply to Cr Bennetts view that forestry depopulated rural areas, Mr Fox said those in the forestry industry maintain that in the long run it means more jobs. Some councillors expressed interest in considering a scheme along the lines of Mr Fox's ideas. Referring to dividing the rural areas into several different zones based on potential productivity, Mr Fox said, "It's the same old T.urn page 14

Scheme change review continues

Frompage 12 story, a good farmer can look after poor country and a bad farmer can ruin good country." Urban zones There would be just one type of residential zone under the reviewed scheme. That means Raetihi and

Ohakune residential areas would be subject to the same rules. Councillors discussed the removal of the Ohakune Apres Ski Zone from the scheme. They heard that the idea behind the apres ski zones was to group ski lodges and chalets together, which the planner felt hadn't

been very successful. Cr Thompson said he thought ski lodges in residential areas could pose a problem, though after some discussion agreed that they were mostly orderly. Mr Fox said the zone had not been successful and that ski lodge and chalet builders had

built outside the zone and permanent resi-' dents had built homes in the zone. Mayor Workman said imposing rules would restrict growth. Cr Thompson said that skiers wanted to be as near to the mountain as possible, to be able to see the mountain and to be "where the action is". Commercial The scheme's commercial zones for Raetihi and Ohakune are also the same but some councillors felt the parking requirements for commercial operations did not suit Raetihi. They felt that while a new Ohakune business may need to provide parking for customers, there was ample parking in Raetihi. To overcome this problem would mean specifying Ohakune in the parking provisions. Tourist commercial Mayor Workman asked if it were possible to set aside a tourist commercial zone on the Parapara Road in Raetihi, for businesses specifically aimed at the tourist. He said there was commercial pressure to provide such a zone but that there would also be pressure from existing retailers in Seddon Street to control the growth of the area. Mr Fox said it would be impossible to control the type of busi-

ness that operated in such an area, unless the council bought the land and leased to a developer who agreed to do what the council wanted. He said the new style of motor service station could provide all the services Mr Workman was referring to. Advertising Mayor Workman asked why advertising should continue to be restricted. He said there was a need for advertising on State Highway Four for Raetihi businesses because of the town's layout. Other councillors agreed there should at least be directional signs (to services). Illuminated signs would not be allowed in the residential zones, but some councillors felt that, as long as they were not flashing signs, they were helpful to visitors in finding such facilities as motels. Cr Bennett said the whole question of signs needed to be strictly controlled. Listed trees Cr Tom Punch asked who decided which trees were to be put on the list of trees to be preserved, which is part of the scheme. He expressed disdain for the listing of a number of groups of beech trees in the scheme. The trees fall under Group One on the list which "consists of native trees which make a significant contribution to the character of the district...(to be) afforded the highest possible protection". Mr Fox said the list was not "a hit or miss" collection, but was carefully prepared by the Lands and Survey Department (now DoC) with other tree experts. The scheme's preservation list includes trees in the Ohakune Ward only, the list being incorporated from the old Ohakune Scheme. Burial sites Cr Bennett asked if Maori Burial sites should, or could be noted in the scheme for protection. He said there were cases where such sites were unknown except to a few people and that the knowledge should be preserved.