Dargaville Racecourse Concept Development Plan

Development of Urban Design Concept and plan provisions to support a plan change application for mixed-use development.

The Urban Advisory was engaged to develop an urban design concept masterplan to support a plan change application for a proposed mixed use development, including retirement village, on a rural site 3km from central Dargaville. 

‍
The design response was iteratively developed with evidence, insight and feedback gathered from mana whenua and community engagement, site and context analysis and input from technical experts and demand analysis. It required a balance between the diverse aspirations and requirements of the tripartite group, including the Rūnanga as future developer, Racing Club as landowner, with the community’s aspirations and needs for development, with an appropriate planning and urban design response to the site and its attributes and constraints.

Collaborating with our team, other consultants and technical experts, and working in parallel with the cultural impact assessment process, we progressively developed iterations of the concept development plan, from a framework structure to an outline plan and masterplan (bulk and location). 

We developed recommended planning provisions and outcome definitions for each development area that would support the urban design outcomes provided for in the concept development plan. 

A key consideration in the provisions was to enable comprehensive developments with shared amenities (e.g. retirement village, papakāinga style living) and providing for hauora, community health and wellbeing outcomes in a central mixed use area called the Hauora Hub.