Land sale will see sprawl continue north

 

With Wellsford now considered an ‘outer suburb’ of Auckland, the urban sprawl of the Queen City is looking toward the small rural town as a future development hub.

An 87 hectare block, currently grazing land, has recently come onto the market.

Bordering School and Worker Roads it has multiple use options being zoned rural countryside, future urban, and residential, under the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

The opportunity offers a mix of residential and lifestyle block configurations that may also include retail and business, schools, healthcare facilities and parks.

The estimated value of the block is in excess of $3.5 million but some predictions put the value way beyond that.

There is little doubt that movement from the city must increase the population of near-north satellite towns, though this will also demand more businesses and employment opportunities and towns strategically located to major transport routes will be in greatest demand.

This will also require advances in infrastructure to cope with growth so Councils now need to be preparing for some major changes over the next 20 years.

The opening of the Johnstone’s Hill tunnels was seen as a boon towards opening up access to the north and the Puhoi to Warkworth extension will be a further inducement to move north yet still retain access to the North Shore and City for those who need to commute. The need to cross the harbour bridge for employment should lessen in time.