No appeal filed against Whakamaru lakeside subdivision

Thursday, 18 June 2026

No appeals were lodged against a district plan change that would allow a large lifestyle subdivision to take place near the shores of Lake Whakamaru.

A riverside subdivision at Lake Whakamaru is free from court appeals and will be ready to go ahead once South Waikato District Council’s district plan is formally changed.

Earlier this week, the council notified the public that the plan change allowing for the almost 32-hectare, 66-lot lifestyle subdivision on Ongarato Rd at Lake Whakamaru would come into effect on July 1.

However, the plan change, first reported on by the Waikato Times in August last year, came under fire from iwi and community groups who said the site - between Lake Whakamaru Reserve and State Highway 30 - would bring noise, light pollution, and traffic into a quiet lakeside environment, and could devalue the adjacent camp ground.

A concept plan for the subdivision on the edge of Lake Whakamaru.

Members of Save Whakamaru, and local hapū Ngāti Te Kohera, said the development risked wastewater contaminating Lake Whakamaru, which also contains submerged wāhi tapu, as well as degrading the natural character of the area, and harming indigenous biodiversity.

Ngāti Te Kohera had previously staged a land occupation at Lake Whakamaru Reserve to protest the proposed development, and were raising funds for an appeal.

Attempts to contact Save Whakamaru chairperson and Ngāti Te Kohera hapū representative Craig Ahipene were unsuccessful, and with no appeal forthcoming, the plan change means the developer can now start planning for Resource Management Act applications.

Landowner, developer and managing director of Hamilton-based building company Precision Built, Jonathan Quigley had requested a plan change to alter the site’s zoning from rural to rural-residential.

The idea is to develop the land into lifestyle blocks ranging from 2500m² to 1.26ha, the realignment of a nearby cycle trail, and planting buffers to separate homes from public spaces.

The subdivision wouldn’t affect public access to the boat ramp or camp ground.

In February, independent commissioners brought in by the council to assess the development, gave the plan change the go ahead saying the proposal met statutory requirements under the Resource Management Act, was supported by council and experts, and appropriately addressed environmental and cultural effects.

The council also narrowly voted in favour to allow the plan change to occur.

Quigley said the result would allow him to proceed into the resource consent planning stage, but said any construction on the site won’t go ahead for the next two or three years at least, due to his current workload.

“Obviously not everyone's happy about it but there's probably an equal or greater number that seem to agree that it's the right thing in the right place.

“What we're trying to establish there is mid to high end … good quality housing stock.

“The South Waikato's undergoing a growth push, trying to encourage businesses to enter the area that maybe otherwise hadn't considered being there.

“That'll mean there's general managers and CEOs and directors that need quality housing which South Waikato lacks.

“Some might consider lakeside living to deliver just that.”

He said landscaping and planting would offer buyers “a more bespoke feel, so that when people drive in it just feels a bit special and does justice to the landscape around it”.

He said he was also considering a joint venture partnership to get the project moving faster, but did not have plans to begin development in the short term.