Dairy Flat surf park work on hold since May, with restart hoped for in February

“We had hoped to be back on the site in November, but it will be the start of February. Three months is not a biggie for us,” he said.

The project has been delayed because the developers withdrew their initial application and sought fast-tracking for new, expanded plans.

Francis said earthworks would not have been carried out over winter anyway because the ground would have been too wet. Spring and drier ground conditions mark the beginning of earthworks at other Auckland sites.

Auckland Council says earthworks usually run from October to April.

New Zealand project partner Trevor McKewen said no work had been done since May.

“It will resume once we get the decision from the expert panel,” McKewen said of the application.

That panel was appointed on August 21 this year to decide on the bigger scheme.

McKenzie Civil Contracting is contracted for the civil and earthworks construction on the 56ha site and has so far completed two seasons, McKewen said.

He shrugged off the rejection of fast-track consent for a new town hub of 4000 homes nearby.

“It is immaterial to us because it was solely housing, but ours is wider,” he said of plans for the surf park, town centre and 400 homes.

The first application for the surf park was lodged last March.

Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop referred the project to the fast-track processlast June.

When the plans won fast-track referral last winter, the plans were to open it next year.

That is now not possible.

McKewen said the process taking longer than initially expected meant opening could be between 2028 and 2029.

The pool, wellness retreat centre, visitor accommodation, restaurant, data centre, a solar farm to power the development and other infrastructure are planned.

Site entry is from Dairy Flat Highway to the west and Postman Rd to the east. The park is about 4km south of the Silverdale interchange with State Highway 1.

The site doesn’t have any public stormwater infrastructure or available connections on its boundaries, so a wetland was also part of the application to treat, retain and detain runoff.

Swales will be built.

Nor are there any wastewater connections on the land.

Water for the surf park will come via the town supply network and a tributary stream, distributed via pipes on the property.

On October 29, the fast-track website had a minute from the expert panel headed by chair Claire Kirman asking the developers to respond to Auckland Council’s technical specialist about infrastructure funding and financing.

Funding responsibilities, infrastructure dependencies, ownership arrangements, operational responsibilities and long-term renewal obligations should be addressed, the panel said.

It also wants more information about how future costs, liabilities or infrastructure risks may fall to the public sector, future residents or infrastructure providers.

The developers were also asked to respond to the council, which found that the project is contrary to the regional policy statement and the objectives and policies of the future urban zone.

Numerous requests were made by council experts, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, the North Shore Aero Club and others seeking additional information, Kirman’s memo said.

Updates to existing technical assessments and requests for new and additional technical assessments and associated information were needed.

That was so an appropriate assessment could be undertaken to determine the exact extent of potential adverse effects, Kirman wrote.

McKewen told the Herald in response that the project was complex and new territory for all involved.

“We’ve answered all those questions. They were seeking deeper modelling, so we’ve provided all that last week,” he said.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.