“Under existing legislation certain organisations are able to apply to subdivide properties without notification to neighbours, and have their details withheld by the Council.”

This is an information collecting exercise. We’re curious … and we’re interested in what you think.

A few weeks ago we heard anecdotal evidence that a piece of land in Oratia at 518 West Coast Rd – bush and green space with the Kaurimu stream running through it – was about to be subdivided into ten sections, and a house moved on to each section. We assumed that the owners of the surrounding properties had been told and the information had made its way to us.

We asked an adjoining property owner whether they’d been informed of this development next to their property. Their reply: “I have had no notification at all regarding this.”

The property owner phoned the council who said it was possible a subdivision was occurring. The property owner argued that under existing legislation the Council must advise them of any subdivision taking place next door to them.

The Council looked up the details and responded that they could neither confirm nor deny that a subdivision was planned, and furthermore that under existing legislation certain organisations are able to apply to subdivide properties without notification to neighbours, and have their details withheld by the Council.

Still, the Council lodged an enquiry for the property owner, who was told the Environmental Team would phone them back within two working days.

The Council did indeed get back to the property owner and provided a plan (see below) showing the details of the subdivision at 518 West Coast Rd – ten sections between 494 sqm and 664 sqm in size.

The Oratia Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association would like to know more about this, and we’d also like to hear any other comments or questions you have.

Please use the Comment link below to join the conversation.

Click the plan to enlarge it, or Click Here to download a high resolution PDF version (1.1MB).

To download a one-page single-sided printable version of this article Click Here (213KB).