The Whakatāne District Council will not be appealing the Proposed District Plan independent Commissioners’ decisions relating to the proposed integrated development of Council-owned land at 77 and 60 Bunyan Road.

A report on the implications of hearing outcomes was received by the Council last week, and Councillors adopted recommendations that the findings involved should be accepted and a media statement issued confirming that the commissioners’ decisions would not be appealed.

Mayor Tony Bonne says the decisions relating to the proposed structure plan for the development of 77 Bunyan Road were largely positive and give greater clarity to the constraints and issues which must be addressed as part of a comprehensive retirement village and residential subdivision on the site.

“While the decisions on the dimensions of the proposed cultural and landscape buffers will have some impact on the area available for development, overall, the decisions provide a greater level of certainty about the future use of the land,” he says. “The specific provisions relating to retirement villages were also positive, and although the submission seeking an increase in building heights was not successful, the plan does allow for additional height to be considered as part of a resource consent process.”

Mr Bonne says discussions on the possible development of the site are continuing, and the Council is hopeful that these may lead to a specific development proposal in the near-to-medium term.

The commissioners’ decisions relating to 60 Bunyan Road make the potential development of the site for marina-related purposes a longer-term and more complex proposition. “The District Plan does now make specific provision for a marine precinct in a broad range of locations, but the ecological and cultural evidence presented will mean that any proposal for a marina on the Whakatāne River will require considerable investigation and evidence to support a resource consent application,” Mr Bonne concludes.