Home : News
: New residential development on cards for Flaxmere 
10 February
Hastings District Council is preparing to sell five hectares of land in central Flaxmere to make way for high-quality residential development.
Chief Executive Murray Gilbertson said the land, which had been earmarked for development by Council for many years, had become a commercial reality due to the recent demand for housing in Flaxmere.
"Council is aware of a significant number of people, including the elderly, who would like to relocate closer to the shops, medical centre and other facilities," he said.
"A new residential development is good news for Flaxmere as it will most certainly complement its commercial heart," said Mr Gilbertson.
Council was carefully preparing specifications for the area and would then call for proposals from developers interested in that land,” he said.
The boundaries of the land fall between Chatham Road, Caernarvon Drive, Swansea Road and Flaxmere College. The land is presently divided by a long line of old manna gum trees which have entered the declining phase of their life-cycle. The trees would be removed.
Mr Gilbertson said the trees were a notable feature of the Flaxmere suburb but unfortunately the potential danger their falling branches posed to the public was increasing with their age. Minor maintenance in 2000/2001 cost ratepayers $29,000.
Council commissioned a report from arborist Christ Hinton of Katsura Tree Consultancy, Auckland, before determining what it should do with the trees.
"Mr Hinton’s report states the overall health of the stand is ‘patchy’ which is of obvious concern to Council," said Mr Gilbertson.
"The ongoing maintenance cost to the ratepayer just doesn’t make sense when the trees are at the declining phase of their lifecycle."
For more information contact:
Murray Gilbertson
Chief Executive
Ph: 878 0500
