Mangaroa Valley; farm subdivision

Details

DescriptionAll dates are for publication in the 'Leader'.

Sep 19, 1989; with the Manawatu Co-op Dairy having taken over Wellington Dairy Farmers, there might be no dairy farms in the upper Hutt Valley; 34 farms had closed in the last 30 years. Lane and Avis Oliver proposed to subdivide their farm, of 53hA into 10 lots; Town Planner's and an MAF Tech consultant's views on the proposal.
October 3; the city council turned down the proposal by a narrow margin after objections by other dairy farmers.
October 10; notified planning application lodged
November 28; council committee hearing; rudimentary map (first image). 21 unsolicited inquiries for this type of development. 30 submissions in support, one objection withdrawn.
December 12; aplication approved 8-5 by full council. Mangaroa School's concerns and possible rates increases.
Dec 19; milk production decline disputed; little or no change in 20-30 years.
Feb 27, 1990; list of 9 more applications for rural subdivision, with more in prospect.
April 10; 1990; such subdivisions were agricultural, not residential, and would not be subject to reserves levies.
(The October 2, 1990 'Leader' introduced a levy based on 7.5% of the value of a 1000-square-metre building.)
A detailed map (image 2) was printed in an Octobr 9 advertisement, in which the agents sought to determine public interest.
Possible predominant uses included:-
Berryfruit or nusery production
Tree cropping for firewood
Deer farming, for velvet
Farm contracting
Breeding and training of horses
Passive recreation
Rearing and finishing of dairy bull beef
Food production
plaus farming of every kind.
The October 30 auction advertisement used a different map again (image 3) which showed vegetation and a stream. Last edited by: Don McLeod