Horowhenua District Council development plans for Manakau January 2019

At a community meeting in the Manakau Hall locals discussed issues related to the Horowhenua District Council’s strategic plans for development in the area. They were asked to present any submissions in January 2019.

Since Manakau is our nearest neighbour and we pass by every time we travel away from Waikawa Beach, their thoughts on such things are of interest to us.

Here’s a slightly abbreviated copy of the Minutes of that meeting, published here with permission.

Minutes of the public meeting held in the Manakau Hall at 7pm on Tuesday 22nd January 2019

This meeting was convened to allow the residents of Manakau to participate in the HDC’s future plans for the region.

[Removed: list of those present]

The small group present discussed the possibility of an on/off ramp from the O2NL Expressway at Manakau and unanimously agreed that residents would rather go to Otaki to head south or Levin to the north to access the motorway.

Guy’s first request was that no construction vehicles be allowed up through the centre of the village and if possible a wildlife corridor under the motorway be installed. Road Underpasses will be vital to link the two sides of the community. It was later mooted that, on completion, the expressway would leave the current local road free for community development for things such as shops, crafts etc. which could improve the village appeal.

Rezoning of local arable farmland was then the major topic for discussion.

The group heard from Alan Pye and Grant Robertson who were familiar with other Kapiti / Horowhenua regions and are both in favour of some controlled development in and around Manakau.

The main issue seen by some present was the reticulation of water and waste, with a strong feeling that any Council development would mean an increase in rates. We heard that with more modern eco friendly systems and deeper acquifers this might not be an issue – but John Hewitson from Waikawa spoke of their successful submission to HDC declining council reticulation plans due to the future prospect of needing desalination when the aquifer dried up. He also noted that any septic ponds from Manakau would probably be installed nearer Waikawa!!

We have heard from HDC that Section sizes of any new development in Manakau would be over 5000 sq.mtr and that the requirement for tank water on new properties is 90000 litres. (45000 for fire prevention)

Rachel suggested that it is more important to consider the quality of any development around Manakau. We accept that we live in a unique and beautiful environment and we now have the opportunity to keep that but extend it out to others who will want to move into the area. She referred us to a website: (hamsonbarronsmith.com) showing a development in Norwich, Carrowbreck Meadow, that displays some of the special village attributes we enjoy. Pip would like any development to be inclusive of a range of different sizes and designs to suit different lifestyles and financial ability. Covenants over properties were discussed but we heard that they are extremely difficult to enforce.

It was then agreed that any submission to the Horowhenua District Council would include the following points. We would not be opposed to rezoning in the Manakau district however:

1. We want to be consulted/involved in the design.
2. Any new development to be constructed would be in keeping with the current village atmosphere e.g. wide berms with no footpaths, no reticulated water or septic system
3. All sections should not be uniformly sized
4. Ideally we would like duel pathways alongside waterways and a central village square
5. We DO NOT want an Expressway on ramp near Manakau. Nor would we want construction vehicles accessing the roading project driving through our village.

We agreed that a letter covering the above points would be sent from MDCA to the Horowhenua District Council.

Esther Sweet, Secretary, MDCA