PHOTO: SIMON O’CONNOR/STUFF It’s Taranaki’s most idyllic seaside village but residents fear that status is at risk from a massive new residential proposal.
Oakura is a little Taranaki village.
It takes all of 45 seconds to drive through on Surf Highway 45, but spills either side of the road towards the Kaitake Ranges in the southeast and the iconic Oakura Beach in the west.
It’s one of the New Plymouth district’s most affluent suburbs with a median house price of $739,950 – homes on the water’s edge are valued up to $2.6 million.
Its main street has a pub, a BP petrol station, a fish ‘n chip shop, Asian fusion restaurant, a cafe, hairdresser, a Four Square and some boutique shops.
The village has a primary school, surf life-saving club, beachfront campground, brand-new skate park and boardriders’ club for surfers. There are fewer than 700 properties and about 1400 people living there.
There are also plans for a large 400-section development on the outskirts of the village in the pipeline and battlelines have been drawn.
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