BEFORE THE HURUNUI DISTRICT COUNCIL
UNDER
the Resource Management
Act 1991
AND
IN THE MATTER
of the Proposed Hurunui
District Plan
Statement of Evidence of MARK HARRISON (Submitter 13 and Further
Submitter 3)
th
Dated: 9 May 2016
1. Introduction
1.1 My name is Mark Robin HARRISON. I reside at 995 Domett Road, Cheviot. I am a sheep
farmer.
1.2 I am the registered owner of Lot 2 DP 79268, being a piece of bare land located at 175 Carters
Rd which is approximately 12.5 hectares in size.
1.3 I began negotiations to purchase this land in 1997. I bought it with the intention of either one day
erecting a dwelling on it or subdividing it for residential sections should Amberley Township
grow. In the interim I have grazed the property.
1.4 Soon after purchasing the property I approached the Council around possible subdivision. The
Planning Manager at the time, Mr Andrew Feierabend, advised me that growth of the town in
that direction may take some time. I was happy to wait, as I purchased this as a long term
investment.
1.5 I was aware at the time I purchased the land that State Highway 1 is a Limited Access Road and
that I may have to provide road access to the property from another route, if I subdivided it.
1.6 From the time I purchased the Carters Rd property, Mr McClelland owned the adjoining land
between this property and Beach Rd. This land was to become the Teviots subdivision. Over the
years Mr McClelland and I have had discussions about me purchasing a section to get access
into my land. However none of these discussions ever advanced to a commercial transaction.
1.7 In approximately 2004 the Council started consultation with the Amberley community around a
plan change to provide for the future growth of Amberley Township. This would become Plan
Change 13 to the district plan. I made a submission on that plan change to rezone my land for
residential development with access on to State Highway 1. Unfortunately I was let down a bit
by the consultant I engaged and I wasn’t able to pursue the submission properly. My land
remained zoned Rural, though the land to the south and east of my land was rezoned
Residential 1D.
1.8 I understand from talking to Councillor Vince Daley that during the Council workshops on the
district plan review, the Council decided to rezone my Carters Rd block to Residential 1D in the
proposed plan as notified. However due to an error, the new zoning was not shown on the
notified planning maps. This position is reflected in the submission the Council has made on the
proposed plan.
1.9 Given the Council now supported rezoning my land, and my land is surrounded by land which is
zoned Residential or Deferred Residential, I made a submission on the proposed plan
requesting rezoning of my land to allow for residential development. I also requested a
temporary access on to State Highway 1 if no alternative access was available.
1.10
My concern is that with the current zoning and access arrangement in the operative
district plan, the growth of Amberley Township to the south-east is dependent entirely on one
landowner. If that landowner does not develop the land in the way the Council is hoping it will
occur, the growth of the township stalls.
1.11
In my opinion, the district plan should provide a range of options for the growth of
Amberley. As a developer, as long as I can satisfy the standards the Council requires for
infrastructure and access, I should not have to wait for another developer to finish their
subdivision before I can start mine. That is essentially giving a market advantage to one
developer over another.
1.12
I appreciate that access from my land on to State Highway 1 in the Limited Access
Road area must be with the permission of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). However
2
there are other options to access my property. There is a vacant 3300m section in the Teviots
which adjoins my land; as well as the possibility of buying other land which adjoins my property
to form access.
1.13
There is also the possibility that the NZTA may alter the speed or alignment of State
Highway 1 fronting my property which will enable road access; or they may change their
position. Around 2008 the NZTA extended the 50km/hr speed zone to include part of my
property frontage. Previously the speed limit was 80km/hr along there.
1.14
It would seem unnecessary and unfair to me if I was prevented from being able to
subdivide and develop the Carters Rd block because other subdivisions in the area were not
completed; if I was able to satisfy the requirements of the Council and NZTA for access.
Mark Harrison