'Delighted and relieved' with permit

The uninhabitable home at 38 Richmond St, Forbury, which the owner plans to demolish and replace...
The uninhabitable home at 38 Richmond St, Forbury, which the owner plans to demolish and replace with two new houses. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON
Plans  to raze an uninhabitable flood-damaged Forbury house and build two single-storey homes in its place have been given resource consent, despite being opposed by a Dunedin City Council planner.

The application for the proposed development at 38 Richmond St, Dunedin, was heard in July by committee chairman Cr Andrew Noone, Cr Lee Vandervis and commissioner Colin Weatherall.

Details of the consent were publicly released yesterday.

Applicant and owner Laurence Prattley was ``delighted and relieved'' with the decision.

In a report to the council's resource consent hearings committee, council senior planner Kirstyn Lindsay recommended the proposal be declined because it was a ``non-complying activity''.

She noted South Dunedin was typically low-lying, with a high ground-water table, and Richmond St was inundated in the June 2015 flood.

She recommended the application be declined on the basis it did not pass the gateway tests set out in s104D because the adverse effects of the proposal in its present form were not adequately mitigated and the proposal was contrary to the key relevant objectives and policies of the Operative Dunedin City District Plan.

Heritage New Zealand identified the house as having been built between 1891 and 1895.

While the organisation was neutral in its submission on the proposal, it said the site, as well as containing an unlisted historic house, was also an ``archaeological site'' as defined by the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act, and any modification would require archaeological authorisation.

The Otago Regional Council also opposed the proposal because the site was at risk of flooding and liquefaction, and more intensive housing would put a greater number of people at risk.

However, Mr Prattley said the house was under 20cm of water during the June 2015 floods, and it was uninhabitable in its present state because it had no bathroom or kitchen.

Following a site visit, the committee members sought further information from Mr Prattley about mitigating the flood risk.

Mr Prattley proposed a minimum floor level of 50cm above existing ground level, which the committee took into consideration when making its decision to grant consent.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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