Build up and out

The Herald reports:

A plan for a five-storey apartment block in Birkenhead is fuelling the intensification-versus-housing choice debate.

Many residents of Rawene Rd are upset at the proposal for their no-exit street, which features historic villas built for the Chelsea Sugar Works.

The planned 56 units, all with two bedrooms and some 50sq m, are a classic case of overdevelopment, says one of the residents, Sharon Bonfield. 

She accepts intensification is going to occur in Birkenhead, saying two other developments for 50 townhouses and apartments have been approved for Rawene Rd.

However, it is the size and scale of the block on business-zoned land which have upset the locals. The Birkenhead Residents Association has questioned the design and impact on the community.

The land is zoned for business. I’d rather have a nice new apartment block there than an office block.

There is no real  alternative to building both up and out.

Resident Steve White said the small apartments, inadequate parking, virtually no landscaping, excessive height and street shading from the building would adversely affect the environment. He said it was a shame that the council did not follow Vancouver, the Canadian seaport city that local politicians and planners use as a benchmark to make Auckland the “world’s most liveable city”.

This is Vancouver where the average detached house price is C$1.44 million and rising at $250,000 a year?

Not sure that is the best model to be promoting.