History of Acacia Park

In July of 1981, Mr. L.I. Murdoch, the owner of a large block of land in the Raumanga area (a suburb on the southern end of Whangarei, New Zealand), submitted a concept plan to the Whangarei Council which provided for the subdivision of his property into large residential lots of about 8,000 m2 in area.

The idea was to provide a low density semi-rural living environment for those people who would otherwise be forced to look outside the City for a similar type of property. Three areas of conventionally subdivided land adjacent to the existing residential areas were also shown on the concept plan.

The bulk of Mr. Murdoch's property is zoned "Deferred Residential" in the District Scheme although the area to the east and west of Raumanga Heights Drive is zoned "Residential 2". The Residential 2 zone provides for the normal type of suburban residential development. The main purpose of the deferred zoning is to prevent inappropriate interim development which could preclude or impede the ultimate intended use of the land. As the need arises and as services become available the land would be rezoned Residential by way of a scheme change under Section 54 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1977.

In December 1981 the Concept Plan was advertised for public comment in terms of Section 276(2) of the Local Government Act 1974. As a result Council received 9 submissions on the proposal from individuals and from various organisations. The majority of those submissions expressed concern that by allowing a development to proceed without the normal range of urban services there would be a burden on future ratepayers when these services were demanded by the residents of the area.

Mr. Murdoch then submitted an application for planning consent to enable him to proceed with his proposal. However, Council at its June 1982 meeting instructed the Planning Department to prepare a 'structure plan' for the whole of the "Deferred Residential" zone in the south of the City. It was acknowledged that there were 4 other landowners in this zone and it was considered that a strategy should be devised for the co-ordinated development of the whole area.