One of the proposed layouts for the project near Flaxmere.
One of the proposed layouts for the project near Flaxmere.
Plans have been revealed to build at least 425 new homes and units on the outskirts of Hastings as part of an investment related to a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
The large housing project was recently accepted for referral to a fast-track consent process, after the Minister for the Environmentfound it would create jobs and increase housing supply.
The Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement Trust is behind the project and is seeking to subdivide about 28ha of rural land next to Flaxmere (at 238 Stock Rd and 49A Dundee Dr) and build between 425 and 523 new homes and units.
Commercial buildings, visitor accommodation and a community hall will be included and there is potential for a retirement village.
“The project includes two development options,” the proposal read.
“Option A will provide approximately 450 residential units (or approximately 523 if a retirement village is constructed) and Option B will provide approximately 425 residential units (or approximately 475 if a retirement village is constructed).”
Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement Trust has been contacted for comment about the project, which has been named the Wairatahi Project.
The proposal noted homes would include a mix of apartments, terraced, duplex and detached houses.
In 2018, a settlement package worth $105 million was made with Heretaunga Tamatea (which represents a large number of hapū around the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay area) as part of its Treaty of Waitangi claim.
Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement Trust manages the assets from that settlement, and made a significant purchase in 2020 for 22ha of land on the outskirts of Hastings, on a site known as 238 Stock Rd.
The existing site where the project is planned. Photo / Paul Taylor
The trust is now looking to develop that land as well as some surrounding properties (totalling 28ha).
The plans come amid a housing crisis in Hawke’s Bay compounded by Cyclone Gabrielle, which destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the region.
Projects that boost employment and the economy can be fast-tracked under the Covid-19 Recovery Fast-Track Consenting Act 2020, as long as applications are received between June 2020 and July 2023.
The Wairatahi Project was recently found to meet criteria and accepted for referral to the fast-tracking process.
The next step will be lodging a resource consent application with the Environmental Protection Authority, which will then be considered by an expert consenting panel.
The Heretaunga Tamatea Deed of Settlement in 2018 included $100m worth of financial and commercial redress, an apology from the Crown for “using secret transactions and other divisive tactics” to purchase huge areas of Heretaunga Tamatea land in the 1800s, and $5m to support Te Aute College.
