24-lot subdivision planned at Outram; plan change sought

Developers behind a proposed 24-lot subdivision at Outram - incorporating the historic Balmoral homestead - are seeking to change the Dunedin City Council's district plan to allow the development.

Balmoral Developments (Outram) Ltd and adjoining landowners have applied to the council for a private plan change to allow 24 homes on 6.7ha of rural land, spread over two titles near State Highway 87, Holyhead Rd and Mount-fort St.

About 6.3ha of the land was owned by the company, headed by directors Cathrine and Neville Ferguson, of Omarama, Companies Office records showed.

The rest of the land was owned by Roger and Michelle Capil, who had joined the company in making the private plan change request.

Both Mrs Ferguson and Mr Capil declined to comment when contacted last night.

The change would see the land rezoned to residential 6, allowing residential lots of 2000sq m or larger.

The application, prepared by consultant Johnston Whitney, argued the development was needed to meet growing demand over the past decade for residential homes in Outram by commuters working in Dunedin.

It would also incorporate the existing Balmoral homestead, built in 1857, which has a New Zealand Historic Places Trust category 2 classification.

The homestead would remain and be surrounded by sufficient land to "maintain its existing setting", the application said.

It also argued the development would allow a "logical extension" of existing residential development in Outram, with the site bordered on three sides by other residential properties.

A report on the bid, prepared by council senior policy planner Paul Freeland, detailed the process to be followed, and would be considered at the next planning and environment committee meeting tomorrow.

The committee had the option of accepting, adopting or rejecting the application, or treating it as a resource consent application, he said.

If accepted, the request would be publicly notified, with submissions and a public hearing to follow, before a decision was made.

His report did not assess the merits of the request, but recommended it be accepted and publicly notified, as there were no grounds to reject it.

However, he also noted the scale of the development meant it would be "inconsistent" with the existing rural zoning of the land, and unlikely to be granted resource consent to proceed under existing rules.

If councillors accepted Mr Freeland's recommendation, the application would be publicly notified next month, followed by two rounds of submissions, with a public hearing expected to follow in September.

- chris.morris@odt.co.nz

 

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