COMMERCIAL PROPERTY with Bayleys North Shore Commercial
Commercial North Shore’s fringes
Bayleys North Shore commercial manager Daryl Devereux comments on the ‘Auckland Unleashed’ discussion blueprint.
Developing the North Shore’s commercial and industrial land potential will require a careful balance of quickly identifying and zoning suitable areas while simultaneously maintaining the rural amenities of lifestyle block land owners.
While the region has considerable land capacity to expand, just where exactly that expansion should occur was reliant on several factors. Those determining factors included access to transport infrastructure, proximity to labour force accommodation, the efficiency of land use, appropriateness to existing businesses zonings, and alternative land-use options.
There was also the long-time controversial issue of environmental protection of ‘green belt’ lifestyle blocks around Paremoremo, Dairy Flat, Redvale and Coatesville.
Expansion of the current Westgate retail zone across the motorway on the current northern boundary for example makes sense – replicating the development of Constellation Drive/Albany basin zones on the North Shore, albeit with the Westgate centre being more focused on smaller stand-alone department store outlets.
There’s an abundance of available land, and infrastructure construction is already well under way. This includes the soon-to-be-opened Hobsonville to Greenhithe dual carriageway linking the North Western motorway via a high speed route to the North Shore, thereby allowing access for both people and products.
Similarly with Silverdale. There is considerable greenfield space immediately on both sides of State Highway One to ensure quick motorway access both north and southbound.
There has been an increasing amount of industrially-zoned bare farmland around the Silverdale and Hobsonville corridor, periphery coming onto the market over the past 10 months – with several large blocks selling to long-term investor/developers in both areas.
The next phase of creating new industrial parks on this land – with the associated substantial planning requirements, and development of infrastructure amenities such as roading and telecommunication services – can take several years to initiate, so it’s unlikely there will be any noticeable change to the land use until, at the very earliest, well into 2012.
The council’s rationale of ‘protecting’ existing industrial zoned land from residential encroachment, while absolutely logical, is in fact contrary to what has been occurring over the past decade.
For years now, fringe residential dwellings have been gaining council consents for conversion into professional services or home-business premises, such as medical centres, pre-school facilities, accountancy firms or legal practices.
What were once clearly defined industrial/commercial and residential boundaries have now become grey ‘mixed use’ zones throughout most of the North Shores bigger commercial centres. Section sizes and building structures will, I believe, self-govern the availability of this type of expansion – so it’s unlikely home owners will suddenly find a bulk retail outlet springing up in the neighbouring ‘quarter acre’ property.
For the North Shore to gain the best results from future zoning plans, it is essential for all of us on the North Shore to participate in the planning process, not leaving it up to others, then protesting at the end results.
About the 'Auckland Unleashed' discussion blueprint
The discussion document sets out ideas and initial proposals for feedback to help prepare the draft Auckland Plan. It also asks questions as to how the Auckland Plan can help Auckland become the best place in the world to live. It is open to anyone to provide comments, all of which will be carefully considered during the writing of the draft Plan.
This document represents the mayor and councillors' initial ideas for articulating and promoting a vision for Auckland. The mayor and councillors are clear that the Auckland Plan must be focussed on both aspiration and delivery.
The six key sections of the document that contain detailed proposals for implementing the vision, values and goals are: the "big picture"; people and quality of life; people and economy; people and environment; people and place; people and infrastructure. www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
