Truck Stop on fertile Heretaunga Plains’ soils

Hamachek Holdings Ltd (RMA20250158) has made an application for a Resource Consent for a project to construct and operate a “Truck Stop” service centre/hub at 160 Evenden Road, Twyford, located on the corner of Evenden Rd and the Expressway, opposite the huge Delegat wine producing building.

This is on some of our best Twyford Class 2 soils.

We as the Save the Plains Group whole heartedly and fervently oppose this application, not only because of yet again, more of our precious soils are being destroyed but because if allowed to proceed, it will set a massive precedent for the other two corners of this strategic round-a bout to be developed and in time spread out from with more residential and or industrial development over highly productive land.

This will also set a strategic precedent for other would be developers to consider covering yet more of our highly productive land on the Heretaunga Plains with more concrete and asphalt and yet again denying any future generations of their economic viability and ability to feed themselves.

What will they say when they look back and see how vandalistic we were in allowing this to happen??

We have legislation in the form of the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) that prohibits this sort of behaviour, but would be developers are testing the legal strength of the NPS-HPL by either pursuing this type of application or by the “Fast Track” process.

The “Fast Track” may have merits to progress growth in NZ, but with regard to the environment and highly productive land, there needs to be guidelines that add protection to what cannot be replaced.

We are the guardians of this land, not the masters of it.

As a consequence, a line needs to be drawn in the “soil” NOW and say “NO” to this application.

For those that are interested, the “Hearing” for this application is put down for Monday the 10th August, at 9am in the Hastings District Council Chambers.

Proposed plan for new Truck Stop. Click to read the full 4 page plan.