A report from the Hastings District Council consenting consultant for the proposed Parkhill film studios at Te Awanga, written after the special commissioner’s hearing in early October, states that she is still not comfortable making a recommendation for consent.
Janeen Kydd-Smith said in her report to the commissioner that more information would need to be made available before she would feel comfortable making a recommendation, including a detailed design of the Parkhill Road/East Road intersection, conditions that satisfactorily address noise mitigation for the local Kindergarten and for residents likely to receive excessive noise levels along Parkhill Road.
The report was written on October 12, two days after the special commissioner’s hearing, was recently made available to BayBuzz.
The decision is now entirely in the hands of the commissioner, who has delayed his decision until January 19 due to its complexity, an HDC spokeswoman said in an email. Previously it was expected the decision would be made before Christmas. .
Despite the studio investors having support from councils and local iwi, after a lengthy planning and troubleshooting process, a group of residents close to the proposed site threatened a legal injunction unless the consultation was widened to include them.
No. 8 studios, the applicant for the consent, agreed in the interests of everyone having their say, with an independent commissioner making the final decision.
In her first report to the commissioner back in September and ahead of the hearing, Kydd-Smith had put No. 8 Studios on notice to bring forward more evidence or proposals regarding mitigating certain effects and agree to consent conditions already recommended by experts, to secure her support.
Much of the concern expressed ahead of the hearing related to traffic safety and noise. For example, the design and configuring of the Parkhill Road/East Road intersection is in question. Currently there is a blind corner when turning into Parkhill Road, with the potential for head-on crashes causing serious harm with heavy vehicles associated with the studio queuing and turning right at the Parkhill Road/East Road intersection.
However, in the first report she also said that with the imposition of recommended consent conditions, “I consider that adverse traffic effects of the proposed development on Parkhill Road and the Parkhill Road/Raymond Road intersection can be appropriately mitigated.”
At this stage one must conclude that any additional information or proposals supplied by No. 8 Studios at the hearing was insufficient to assuage Kydd-Smith’s concerns.
If the consent is approved, Parkhill Studios will be situated in a valley above the Clifton Cricket Club on 2.2 ha of land adjoining the Maraetotara River and near lakes on the Nillson family farm behind Te Awanga which has been leased for 35 years.
The facilities include two parallel 60 x 40 metre architecturally designed structures with state of the art 20cm thick soundproof panelling produced at the Bondor factory in Palmerston North.
Read more about the background on the proposed film studios here and here.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Pull finger Consents Officer, this will help keep HB up there on the global map & provide more diverse jobs for the region.
We live on Parkhill Road and can only think that to bring work to the area must be a positive thing
Upgrading the road and intersections also must be a positive
So at first it may be a little noisy , so what , not going to be like Queen Street
Film production studios bring in lots of money and hire well paid skilled labour. Skilled labour that might come from elsewhere at first, but the likelihood of on the job training for local workers is high. Film production is a clean, high tech industry. Big benefits to the community and the nation. Don’t tank this because a handful of NIMBYs complain.
For goodness sake. The fact this studio is forecasted to bring in 5 million a week into the region and we are still worried about the rich neighbors and their traffic noise? Imagine the jobs this will bring and the opportunity for sole traders. Hurry up already, let’s get construction moving.
We live on Parkhill Rd and fully support the film studio proposal.
In terms of the safety of the Parkhill/ East Rd intersection, when the current layout was first proposed many of us said it would be unsafe. The council deemed that it would be safe and pushed ahead with the current layout. To now say it is unsafe is a bit rich in my view. In 30yrs living on this road I have never seen an accident on that corner. Lets help the Bay grow with this great new proposal.