Question 2. Do you support the key outcomes and initiatives identified in the Draft Adelaide Road Framework?

 

(f) Outcome 6: Providing for more intensive, high-quality residential growth along the northern part of Adelaide Road.

 

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Mt Cook Mobilised initial response to Outcome 6.

 

stongly agree

agree, with reservations

no opinion

disagree

disagree strongly

 

Comments

 

Proposed building heights – Mt Cook Mobilised have significant concerns

• In Adelaide Rd there is a risk of two “walls” up to 24 metres high, with shade problems, wind tunnel effects, blocking views, etc.  We want to see view lines (using 3D modeling) to get a better sense of the impact of proposed development
• Also the proposed height controls (6-8 floors) exceeds by a big margin the building heights recommended for Urban Center zones (3-5 floors) in new urbanist design codes^[1]  being widely adopted in the US to guide urban redevelopment. This makes the case for retaining existing height controls (4-6 floors) in order to maintain a sense of scale appropriate to the community setting.
• If Council wants to continue advocating for a 6–8 story height limit, then we would like to see how buildings could be sensitively designed at this upper height limit (e.g. use of staggered frontages – recess lines, and light wells and forecourts) to reduce a sheer wall effect.
• We want Council to ensure that new developments really reflect the framework and achieve the overall outcome;  that designs fit with the overall framework and the surrounding context and complement existing buildings.  Developers should not be permitted to build just because they comply with specific District Plan parameters, if their designs cannot contribute to the overall effect the framework has been created to achieve.

 

Questions

• What real discretion and motivation does the Council have to manage building heights and styles – what rules can be put into the District Plan?  If all that developers have to do is state their intention to have two levels of commercial activity, can the Council stop some buildings going to the maximum “discretionary” height?
• On the Tasman Street boundaries of Zone Two (discretionary height up to 18 metres), what can be done to protect the character housing on the other side of the streets (including Tainui, Ranfurly, Howard St etc areas) from being dominated by 5 or 6 story buildings facing on to Tasman Street?  Also how can such protections be incorporated into the current District Plan, given that it appears to allow up to 6 story structures to be built in this Zone Two area?
• The term “high quality residential growth” doesn’t have any practical definition, but is rather implied in the framework.  Has the Council got some really practical definitions, examples and “indicators” that would help us understand what they mean by this, and that would assist us evaluate plans and subsequent development?

 

Add further comments please

 

To go to other parts of the WCC feedback form and our response, click on the links below

 

Index | Question 1 | Question 2 (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) | (f) | Question 3 | Question 4 | Question 5

 

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Relevant background information from WCC

 

From the WCC Draft Adelaide Road Framework (3.32Mb PDF), p20

 

The area has an expanding residential component including student accommodation but also examples of new‘higher-end’ apartment developments (eg the new apartments on the corner of Hanson/Drummond streets).

 

The existing population of the project study area is about 2140 people; within the area zoned ‘Suburban Centre’ the population is about 1000. The Urban Development Strategy anticipates accommodating an additional 1550 residents (870 dwellings) by 2026 in the Adelaide Road growth area. This is a significant amount of additional residential development.

 

However, meeting the Urban Development Strategy’s housing growth objectives for Adelaide Road should not be at the expense of employment, character and heritage, other areas sensitive to change, and community values. New, intensive, housing growth will be focused within the main Adelaide Road corridor area, eg in apartments above ground-floor employment uses.

 

Key concepts

• developing good-quality streetscape and public spaces, a quality public transport system and good parking
• providing for residential growth without undermining the employment fabric of the area by encouraging
• new development that includes a mix of employment and residential activities (eg apartments above employment uses - see Figure 14(a)
• encouraging high-quality intensive housing developments that demonstrate attention to design, quality materials, integration with local surroundings and provide internal parking
• encouraging a variety of housing choices, including affordable and accessible housing for lower-income, student and ageing population groups.