Kawerau's Stoneham Park moved a step closer to becoming a residential development of 80 to 100 new homes this week.

Kawerau District Council voted unanimously to adopt Plan Change 4 to its district plan at a meeting on Wednesday after months of public consultation.

The plan change will allow the park to be rezoned as a residential growth precinct under the Resource Management Act. Different height and density rules in the zone will allow for smaller section sizes than other parts of the town.

Roy Stoneham Park is 5.42 hectares of flat land adjacent to Kawerau Pūtauaki School, with good drainage and the council has identified it as the most suitable council-owned land for residential development.

Currently zoned as a recreational reserve, the park was formerly home to the town’s soccer club, which has not used it since 2012.

The plan change is one of two statutory processes the council needed to perform in order for development to go ahead.

The other is the revocation of reserve status under the Reserves Act, which is being done in parallel to the plan change.

This process will remove the reserve status and exchange it for an equivalent-sized area of council-owned land on Fenton Mill Road that is less suited for housing.

This land will be opened to the public as a recreation area, plans for which are also being consulted on with the community.

The 5.42 hectare Stoneham Reserve may soon have between 80 and 100 homes built on it.

The council indicated its intentions to develop Stoneham Park into residential housing in its Long-term Plan 2021-31, as one of its strategies to “Grow Our District” and has received $4.2 million in funding for the development under central government’s Water Services Better Off Funding Programme.

The development will have one access point, from Peter Lippa Drive, and the council plan to offer a range of section sizes from 300 square metres to 700 square metres.

It will include green spaces and recreational areas. The council will benefit from having more ratable properties and expects to make an estimated $2 million profit in section sales.

Two rounds of submissions were held, with independent commissioner Bill Wasley overseeing the hearings. Of the 35 submissions received, 10 were opposed to the plan change, 14 were in support of it and 11 supported it in part.

Some submitters were against urban intensification in general, or were concerned about disruption, noise and traffic for nearby residents and the loss of a green space for exercise and dog-walking. Fears were expressed that people who had been using the park for the past 20 years would not benefit from the new housing as it would be out of their price range.

One, from Herenga ā Nuku o Aotearoa – Outdoor Access Commission, sought provisions for active transport and connectivity routes through the zone, which was accommodated in part in the plan.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand suggested some changes to the planned subdivision which were accepted such as locations of fire hydrants and access routes to rear sections.

At the meeting, Mayor Faylene Tunui thanked those who had made submissions, the commissioner and council staff for their work in bringing the plan into fruition.

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