gettingdenser12 Mahurangimatters September 2, 2015

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Warkworth schools are at capacity and two more schools will be required by 2030 to accommodate population growth, according to local principals.Conversely, the Ministry of Education says there is ample time to buy land in Warkworth and the existing eight schools in Mahurangi will cope.A Ministry report released in April said the number of students in Mahurangi would likely more than double in the next 15 years, from 2650 to 6100.But Ministry head of sector enablement and support, Katrina Casey, says no sites have been identified for new schools as Warkworth is only experiencing mild growth.“We’ve been talking to schools about which options would work for them in planning for growing rolls,” she says. “These include managing enrolment zones and providing extra classrooms when schools need them.“Warkworth, Snells Beach and Matakana schools are due to do further work on enrolment schemes to help them manage roll growth, and we will support them with that.”Mahurangi College principal David Macleod says the school is already 75 students over its capacity of 1225 students and the Ministry needs to buy land now to prepare for the future.The college is planning to demolish two single-storey classroom blocks and replace them with double-storey blocks, which will increase the school’s capacity to about 1800, but he says that is the limit for current the site.

Schools under pressure as population boom looms

“The Ministry thinks we can grow to 2000, but I can’t see how we would cope with another 700 students. We don’t have enough field space as it is.”However, Mr Macleod says the Ministry won’t fund the construction until its roll climbs even higher. In the meantime, it has to make-do with an increasing number of prefabricated classrooms.“We’ve got good long-term plans, but the Ministry won’t let us build in advance. We have to be in deficit first.”A Ministry report, produced by education consultants Pedersen Pierce, says Warkworth’s

population is likely to triple in the next 10 to 15 years, but growth in the next five years is expected to be relatively slow. Mr Macleod says the Ministry needs to seize this window of opportunity and “land-bank” for a second high school before the population boom hits.“Now is the time to prepare.”The report said the college would probably reach a capacity of 2000 students within the next 15 years and recommended that the Ministry explore “a joint venture with a tertiary provider to develop

continued page 13

Mahurangi College is halfway through work repairing leaky buildings. Principal David Macleod says the school plans to turn two of its one-storey classroom blocks into two-storey blocks.

gettingdenser 13MahurangimattersSeptember 2, 2015

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Principal Cynthia Holden says the rebuild of the junior section of Warkworth School is expected to be finished in February, but it won’t increase the capacity of the school.

soccer field, and it’s not enough.”Another option being explored is building a second school at a new site, possibly in a public-private partnership (PPP).Under a PPP, a private partner is responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining school property over a long-term contract, but has no involvement in the school’s curriculum or management. New Zealand’s first PPP school, Hobsonville Point Primary School, opened in 2013 and there are four more proposed for Auckland,

Christchurch and Queenstown.Meanwhile, Warkworth School is also feeling the strain of a growing roll and principal Cynthia Holden agrees that the Ministry should be buying land now for a second primary school. The school is already at capacity with 600 students. A major redevelopment is underway, starting at the junior school and then later at the senior school, which will increase capacity to 700 students by 2017. However, the lack of sports fields will impede further growth. The rebuild of the junior school will only replace the existing 16 classrooms and not increase capacity.There are plans in future to add a further two classrooms to the junior side.The Ministry has agreed to refurbish the senior school and increase the number of senior classrooms from 10 to 12. This work is expected to start in July next year and finish in early 2017.“We are likely to be a rolling construction site for the next two years,” Ms Holden says.At current growth rates, the school will reach its capacity of 700 students by 2019.Ms Holden says it is likely a zoning system will then be in place so students will have to attend their closest primary school.“Matakana and Snells Beach schools still have room for growth. But in the long-term, Warkworth will need a second primary school and the Ministry needs to identify an area central to new housing developments and purchase land.”The Pedersen Pierce report said a second primary school would be needed in the “medium to long term”.The Rodney section of the Auckland Council District Plan, notified in 2000, shows land near McKinney Road zoned for a school. The proposed Unitary Plan includes no detail of future school sites. This detail would likely be included in a Warkworth Structure Plan.

a joint campus that supports secondary/tertiary/workplace transition”. Mr Macleod says his preferred option is to build a second campus on an adjacent site.“We could have a junior high school and a senior high school with shared grounds and facilities, and run by a single board of trustees. But we would still be very constrained by the lack of playing fields. At the moment we’ve only got one rugby field and one

from page 12

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An Auckland Council proposal to manage Warkworth’s growth in two phases, firstly in the north followed by the south, has been opposed by Warkworth representatives.Council released a draft proposal in July which would see 290 hectares of land to the north of Warkworth ready for development by 2022, while 420 hectares of land in the south would have to wait until at least 2027.Rodney Local Board and the Warkworth Area Business Association have both raised concerns about the phasing and believe the town should grow from the centre, rather than splitting growth between north and south.The Board wants Warkworth to grow ‘naturally’ from its hub. Board deputy chair Steven Garner believes there has been greater demand for development to the south of Warkworth.“If a developer is prepared to pay to develop infrastructure for the north of Warkworth, then that is fine, but I don’t follow the reasoning in delaying development in the south for another decade,” Steven says. “The growth to the north is relatively new and is centred around the completion of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway. But historically, there have been numerous applications from developers for growth in the south, which indicates the area will have pressure to develop sooner. Infrastructure, particularly wastewater and water, is also more accessible in the south and west of Warkworth, compared with the north.”The Board has requested that land between Matakana and Sandspit Roads be included in the development strategy,

Businesses will need to adapt to an older work force in future, according to a report released earlier this year on the Ministry of Social Development’s Positive Ageing Strategy. An increasing proportion of older New Zealanders are continuing to work past the age of 65, but research shows that most workplaces don’t have plans for this age group and a significant number of people have seen or experienced discrimination.In 2011, 19 per cent of people aged 65 years and over were in paid employment (approx. 111,000). This sector is expected to increase to 29 per cent by 2051 (approx 408,000). Concurrently, their contribution as taxpayers is expected to increase from $3.6 billion to $17 billion over the same time span.In 10 years time, there will be more people aged 65-plus than children aged 14 years and under in NZ, with this gap likely to widen past this date.By 2033, every city and district will have more older people than children, with the exception of Auckland and Hamilton. The report says this will bring challenges for local economies that already face shortages of health staff and carers.“At the same time as the traditional ‘working age’ population shrinks, businesses will need to retain and harness older workers’ skills in order to sustain their long-term growth and profitability,” the report said.

Warkworth’s phased growth opposed Seniors choose to stay in work

with a link road between the two roads.The land was included in the Future Urban zone in earlier Council plans, but was excluded in the most recent proposal. The Board wants transport projects like the Hill Street intersection upgrade and the Matakana Link Road completed now. But it agreed with the timeframes set out in the strategy, with growth occurring between 2022 and 2031.At the Board’s business meeting last month, member John McLean said the development of Wainui should be brought forward and be prioritised ahead of the growth of Warkworth.“People want to live in Dairy Flat more than Warkworth. People to want to live closer to Auckland,” he said.However, the Board did not support his views.The Warkworth Area Business Association has voiced opposition to the north/south development proposal.“We disagreed that Warkworth north should be flagged for future growth and be development-ready before Warkworth south,” association co-

chair Dean Sampson says. “We feel the two should be planned concurrently so that development is cohesive and connected across the whole town, not disjointed and ad hoc.” Council Auckland Plan strategy and research general manager Jacques Victor says the completion of the Puhoi to Warkworth motorway in 2022 will mean northern Warkworth will experience development pressure ahead of the south.“A key advantage of enabling the development of Warkworth north earlier is the opportunity this area provides for business and employment growth,” Mr Victor says.“In the short term, existing urban capacity will allow for an ordered pattern of development. In the longer term, the staging of development in the future urban areas will enable this essentially radial (concentric) pattern of development to continue. Structure planning will provide a greater level of detail including staging. This will ensure development occurs in a way that is contiguous with the existing urban area.”

The phasing of housing developments in Warkworth is being questioned by Rodney Local Board and Warkworth Area Business Association.