Waipa building boom continues
6 August 2015
More than 1000 building consents were lodged with Waipa District Council in the last financial year.
The 2014/15 figures are down only slightly from the record-breaking previous year which had set a new five-year record for consent applications.
Council's planning and regulatory manager Wayne Allan said the total value of consents issued during the 12 month period exceeded $194 million.
My staff issued 1065 consents and with the exception of five, all were processed well within the statutory 20 working day timeframe. The average turnaround time was 8.5 working days which I think is pretty good given the huge numbers coming through, he said.
We also processed, within timeframes, 865 LIM reports over the last year. That's a record number and highlights the number of property transactions occurring in the market.
There was no sign of building activity in the district easing up, he said. From April to June 2015 this year 48 consents were issued for new houses in Cambridge, 16 for homes in Te Awamutu/Kihikihi and eight for homes in Pirongia/Ngahinepouri. The remaining four new homes were spread across the district.
Given growth projections for Waipa, we anticipate this level of activity continuing for some time.
In an end-of-year report, Allan noted that council staff had dealt with more complaints from the public in a number of areas including illegal dumping, obstructive trees, long grass and wandering dogs.
Compared to the previous year, complaints about parking had nearly doubled, prompting staff to take a far more proactive approach to those ignoring time limits. In the last year, council staff issued 133 parking tickets compared to 44 in the previous yearr. Complaints from Waipa business owners had fallen dramatically since council staff began more proactively ticketing cars, Allan said.
Council staff also dealt with more complaints about long grass, fire and smoke and breaches of the district plan.
Allan reported an increase of 256 registered dogs in the district and said an additional 23 dogs in the district had been rehomed compared to the previous year. However staff had received fewer complaints about barking or aggressive dogs or dogs worrying stock.
All media enquiries, contact Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of council) 027 507 7599