Appeal to Environment Court

Action Meadowbank Inc has lodged an appeal against the decision of the Council. This was done after careful consideration and evaluation as we strongly believe that the matter is worth pursuing to protect our suburb, and the wider city, from inappropriate development.

The front page of last Friday's Courier shows that we are not alone in this fight. If you support our opposition to this development, then we invite you to apply to join the Society if you have not done so already. To join, please send me an email expressing your interest in becoming a member. There is NO financial obligation or liability in joining, however donations are always welcome! And we can always find work for willing hands.

The current process could take around 6 months to get to a decision from the Environment Court, and there are further appeals options that may be available to Qualcare or us following any decision. Qualcare have a significant investment to protect so they will not want to walk away from this, but rather get building as soon as possible. They will be hoping their money, and the stress and disruption of this process on local residents, will buy them the decision they want. We believe the District Plan is quite specific and a development as proposed is not at all consistent with the Plan – our challenge is to pursue that decision through the Courts.

Please support us in our action.

The Commissioners decision

The Commissioners decision can be downloaded from:
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/members/hearings/a20080630.asp

Click on the 'Agenda Attachments' link near the top of the page and there are two links:
1. The Council Planners report (hrg-300608-report-agd-#1.pdf)
2. The decision (hrg-300608-decision-agd-#1.pdf)

Qualcare decision

Unfortunately the decision of the commissioners has gone against us, and consent for the application has been granted (with the modifications they proposed during the hearing). Those of you who made submissions should have received a copy of the decision in the post today.

We must now make decide what action to take. If we want to challenge the decision, this means going to the Environment Court. This process must be initiated within 15 working days, so we need some prompt feedback as to whether or not there is support for such an appeal.

An appeal will be costly, in terms of both time and money, so Action Meadowbank wants to have a clear indication of the level of support in the community for such an action. Could you please indicate, as soon as possible, whether you would be willing to contribute further to the appeal process. It would be useful to hear your view - for or against! There is potentially some government funding available for the appeal process, and we would be seeking to access this, but we cannot be certain of obtaining this or of this being adequate to meet all the expenses.

Frankly, we were surprised and disappointed at the decision, and believe there are grounds to appeal this and potentially overturn it. However, we do recognise that this is not a short process, and it is still possible that we may not succeed. But if we don’t do anything we will have to live with the development as approved – or worse, open the door for Qualcare to seek to modify the consent to allow an even more intensive development (without the modifications they proposed during the hearing).

Hearing concluded

The public aspect of the Hearing concluded on Thursday morning, with Qualcare delivering their right-of-reply. The three commissioners will now deliberate on what they have heard, and will deliver their decision in 15 working days. However, this may be extended, and the chairman indicated that this is quite likely to happen.

It is my understanding that the decision (and any delay) will be communicated in writing to all submitters.

Qualcare right-of-reply

The Hearing will continue next Thursday 17th July, commencing at 9:30am, for Qualcare's right-of-reply. Two hours have been allowed for this. It is to be held at the same location as the Hearing last week.

It is expected that submitters will be mailed out a copy of this sometime this week. I have an electronic copy of this - if you would like a copy (approx. 5 mb PDF file) then please contact me.

Society's submission to Hearing

Below is a link to the Society's submission to the Planning Hearing (it is in pdf format).

Action Meadowbank Submission

Qualcare hearing - Day 4

Final day of submissions, where the locals continued to give great presentations about the effect of this proposal on their properties.

Qualcare have asked for an adjournment, and will be presenting their right-of-reply in writing on Monday, and in person on a date to be determined (in about 2 weeks time).

I will post the Action Meadowbank submission here in the next few days (after I catch up on some sleep).

Qualcare hearing - Day 3

Today was the first day for submitters, with a number of local residents making submissions. The commissioners are very keen to hear about how YOU will be affected. They are also very aware that it is not often that most of us have to do something like this, so don't be afraid!

All going to plan, the hearing will conclude tomorrow (Thursday).

Qualcare Hearing - Day 2

Today was afternoon only, and Qualcare continued their evidence with the following appearing:
Bronwyn Coomer-Smit (continuation from Monday)
Jon Styles - Environmental Acoustics
Craig McGarr - Planning & Resource Management Consultant

As Qualcare will complete their evidence on Wed morning, some submitters have been brought forward. As a result Roger Williams and Mike Graham will be presenting at 10:30am on Wednesday. This is distinct from the Action Meadowbank presentation which is still scheduled to be on Thursday afternoon.

The hearing is being held at:
Committee Meeting Room
Level 15
Civic Administration Building
1 Greys Avenue
Auckland

You will need to report to Reception on the Ground Floor. Closest parking is in the Aotea Centre car park.

Qualcare hearing - Day 1

A very brief summary of today's hearing:

Bal Matheson (lawyer representing Qualcare) opened Qualcare's evidence with an overview of the proposal, and noted some further proposed amendments, these being*:

a) Blocks 1 and 4A (along the Meadowbank Rd frontage) to be reduced from 3 1/2 storeys to 3 storeys.

b) Blocks 5A and 5B to be reduced by 1/2 storey to the outer edge to address privacy issues, potential dominance and effects on outlook from the Bonnie Brae properties. (The units facing into the centre of the development will be maintained).

c) Blocks 4C to have the two corner units that face MacPherson St removed (again, the internal facing units will be retained).

Evidence was heard from:

Brett Meyer - Development Manager for Retirement Care New Zealand Ltd (in place of Mark Stockton who is on leave)

Anthony Flannery - Managing Director at Chow Hill Architects Ltd

Rob Pryor - Director LA4, Landscape Architects

Rachel de Lambert, landscape architect, Boffa Miskell Ltd

Paul Culley, Senior Engineering Technican, MSC Consulting Group Ltd

Simon Miller, Arboriculturalist, Peers Brown Miller Ltd

Bronwyn Coomer-Smit, Director, Flow Transportation Specialists Ltd (her evidence will continue on Tuesday afternoon)

The evidence presented was basically the same as contained in the various document that we have seen over the last 12 months.

* for the legal people out there, these amendments came with the footnote "These amendments are put forward for consideration at this hearing, however the Applicant is not formally amending its application." I'm not exactly sure what that means!

You may be contacted by Council tomorrow (Tues) morning to see if you can present your evidence sooner, as Qualcare are running ahead of where they thought they would be in terms of presenting their evidence.

I'll attempt to update this website each evening (but don't count on it).

Meetings 19 & 22 June

You are invited to attend one of the following community meetings:
Where: Tahapa Hall, Tahapa Cres., Meadowbank
When: Thursday 19 June 2008 at 7:30pm
Sunday 22 June 2008 at 4:30pm

We will give information about the forthcoming public hearing, provide assistance in preparing your submission for the public hearing, and also discuss the latest changes to the application.

You are welcome to attend even if you didn't make a submission.

Public Hearing commences Monday 30 June

The Public Hearing will be held Monday 30 June to Thursday 3 July 2008.

If you made a submission it is important that you also speak at the hearing - this will add more weight to your submission. Please contact me for further information by emailing me at: actionmeadowbank@slingshot.co.nz .

A further community meeting will be held in the next 10 days - date to be advised shortly.

Possible Hearing date is 30 June 2008

We understand that a Public Hearing for the Qualcare application may be held as early as 30 June 2008. If you made a submission you should have received additional information (via the Council) in the mail today. Qualcare seem to have made very little in the way of changes, so our key concerns still remain.

Watch this space.

Updated info from Qualcare

The following email was received from Qualcare today (9 June 2008)

"As some of you are aware of, Qualcare has been in discussion with its consultants to find ways to try and address some of the concerns raised by Submitters and Council.

To this end, Qualcare has submitted to Council an updated set of information which has clarified certain points of the scheme, amended some of the design and provided more detailed Landscaping information.

The highlights of this package will be posted to all submitters by Auckland City Council; and the full package will be made available on our website, and can be obtained from Council as well.

We anticipate that the posted package will be with you in the next few days with the website updated by the end of today. Please click on the amended plans tab.

As a reminder the website address is http://www.qualcare.co.nz/meadowbank/ "

Height of 5 storey apartments

This is a cross-section showing the 5 storey apartment blocks. The crimson square indicates the parts of the buildings that are over the 8 metre height restriction for a Residential 6A zone - the buildings are approximately twice the allowed height.

Hearing Postponed

We heard this week that the Public Hearing has been postponed. The likely date is now June/July.

Another recent development is that Qualcare's majority shareholder is now Macquarie Bank (based in Australia). As a result of this Qualcare will be merged with Eldercare, who also operated aged-care facilities in NZ. This transaction will have NO effect on the Resource Consent Application.

Main features of proposed development

Some of you may not be aware of the full size and scale of the proposed re-development, so I will outline the main features of the development below.

The plan is to demolish EVERYTHING on site, with the exception of six cottages in the southeast corner (MacPherson/Bonnie Brae corner).

The replacement buildings will be a number of 2,3,4,5 storey apartment blocks. These apartment blocks will house 240 apartments (one, two and three bedroom – the majority being 2 bedroom) and a 44 bed hospital. There will be a large underground car-park, and some above ground parking. It is expected that there will be approximately 450 people (residents & staff) on site once the development is completed - currently there are less than 170 people on site. A number of mature trees will be removed to make way for the apartments. The construction period is estimated to be anywhere between 5 and 10 years.

Executive Summary from Qualcare's application (PDF document)
Main architectural drawings (Qualcare website)

Before & After - Manapau St

Before & After - Bonnie Brae Rd

Public Meeting - 17 April

The planning consent hearing is imminent. This is our best chance to limit the size and shape of this development.

Find out how you might be affected and what you can do to protect your home and the Meadowbank community.

Please attend a meeting for Meadowbank residents, this Thursday, 17 April, 7:15pm at the Tahapa Hall, 22 Tahapa Crescent, Meadowbank

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Provisional Hearing date 5-9 May

We do not yet have confirmation of the hearing date, however we must assume that it will be commencing on Monday 5 May. As this is just 4 weeks away there is now a degree of urgency attached to this matter.

To obtain the best result for Meadowbank residents at the Hearing we believe it is necessary to obtain expert help and advice and therefore the preferred way forward for Action Meadowbank is to engage a planner to help us prepare the society’s presentation and to appear on our behalf at the Hearing.

If we are to follow this course of action it will cost approximately $10,000. We need your financial support to follow this through. Financial support can be in two ways:

1. A donation (in the form of a pledge at this stage)
2. Underwriting a portion of the cost to enable us to engage the planner while fundraising takes place. (As funds are raised from other sources, the extent to which any underwriting would be required will diminish. However, at this stage we do not have a clear idea of how successful fundraising initiatives will be.)

Please contact Mike Graham if you are able to help financially.