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: Council hits out at Ocean Beach accusations 
14 March
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule today hit out at accusations surrounding pre-determined “deals” between Council and landowners over development at Ocean Beach.
A television report aired on TV One’s Close Up last night, suggested Council had entered into a pre-determined plan change for the area doing “deals” behind closed doors with developers to secure public access and reserve land in return for private plan change approval.
“The story was misleading and it’s time to set the record straight,” said Mr Yule.
The television report centred on a Deed of Agreement between Hastings District Council and landowners Tennyson OB dated 8 August 2003.
“The 2003 agreement that people are referring to does not involve the Council agreeing to or approving ANY development at Ocean beach let alone 540 houses suggested by the charrette consultants which has not yet been considered by council,” he said.
Mr Yule said the Agreement simply removed one of the significant barriers to achieving a negotiated solution to public access to the surf club reserve.
“The agreement does not require the Council to provide access across the reserve to the developers land north of the reserve; in fact, it does the opposite by negating a 1989 agreement entered into by the Hawke’s Bay County Council in return for the then landowners gifting the surf club area in the first place.”
Mr Yule said the current status was that the community did not have legal road access down the existing hill to the surf club.
“We make no apologies for trying to secure the very thing people are jumping up and down about – public access to the beach. However, Council is not trying to achieve legal road access to Ocean Beach with plan change ‘deals’,” he said.
“The key issues at Ocean Beach for the Council have for many years been the improvement of roading, public access and reserves.
“To make progress on these issues, the Council has to negotiate with landowners at Ocean Beach and we’ve been back and forth on this for over a decade.”
In 1989 an agreement negotiated by the then Hawke’s Bay County Council did not achieve these aims and, in 2003, Hastings District Council signed an agreement with Tennyson OB that the Council would try to improve access and enlarge the reserve by the surf club building.
“A significant concern has always been that legalising the road access would mean that the road would be used to access new development,” said Mr Yule.
“This agreement removes that concern.”
The Agreement states if the council was able to obtain legal
road access to the reserve over the adjoining Maori land,
the Council would gain a one hectare extension to the reserve
gifted by Tennyson OB. The Council would gain the reserve
whether or not any development was approved on the adjoining
land.
Mr Yule said Tennyson OB never did submit a proposal but if it had, or does in the future, there were certainly no deals or special favours.
“Any private plan change needs to be processed accordingly through the Resource Management Act and the Agreement specifically states that the Council was under no obligation to approve or support such a proposal.
“We have been very careful to preserve the Council’s integrity in terms of the Resource Management Act processes,” he said.
Mr Yule said it was incredible people were reading into the agreement an outcome opposite of what it actually does.
“The 2003 Agreement had nothing to do with the charrette. The charrette had not even been conceived of when the Agreement was signed.
“Two years down the track, the Agreement was put on hold to allow the charrette process to take place with a clean sheet of paper. The charrette sought input from key stakeholders, experts, members of the community and landowners on the best plan change solutions for whole of Ocean Beach – not just one area.
Mr Yule said there also seemed to be a misunderstanding that one hectare of additional reserve land, at no cost to the ratepayer, was all that would be required for a development of the size contemplated by the charrette outcome.
“This is absolutely NOT the case,” he said.
“The 2003 Agreement was based around a proposal by the developer for 44 lots and an extension of possibly another 20-odd lots. One hectare of public recreation reserve is more than what would be required in an urban situation under the current rules let alone at the beach where the public recreation area is on the doorstep in the form of the beach itself.
Mr Yule said council encouraged participation in the charrette, which was independently facilitated by overseas design consultants. Council has continually stated it does not want to see ad hoc development at Ocean Beach over the next 50 to 100 years.
“In any event, the reality is that independent commissioners will hear any plan change for this area because council has said from the start it removes itself from that decision-making process because it has a vested interest in securing public access and adequate public reserve at Ocean Beach.
“At the end of the day that’s what we’re dealing with – the buck stops at Council trying to gain guaranteed public access to that beach.
“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that what our community really wants?”
For more information contact:
Mayor Lawrence Yule – Ph: 878 0500
