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Olympic medalist and New York Marathon winner Rod Dixon says he did not want to be actively involved in a private plan change process for a proposed housing development near downtown Nelson.
Olympic medalist and New York Marathon winner Rod Dixon is withdrawing from the Save the Maitai campaign, which opposes a proposed housing development near downtown Nelson.
Dixon was among a group of prominent Nelsonians who added their voice in opposition in 2021 on a proposal to build hundreds of houses on a stretch of land stretching from Atawhai over the hills and down through the Kākā Valley, which is connected to the Maitai Valley.
However, in a July 12 evidence statement, Dixon says much of the information he was given was incorrect.
A hearing started on Wednesday for a request to amend a private plan to pave the way for the development.
READ MORE:
† Plan change hearings open for proposed development of the Kākā Valley
† Controversial housing proposal in valley to attend RMA hearing
† Opponents of Maitahi development call on council to reject request to change plan
† Prominent Nelsonians voice their opposition to the proposed Maitai development
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An aerial view of Nelson with the Maitahi-Bayview development site highlighted by a white dotted line at the top of the image.
Dixon’s signed affidavit of evidence was presented to the hearing committee by John Maassen, the attorney for the plan change applicant – developers CCKV Maitai Development Co LP and Bayview Nelson Ltd.
In that statement, Dixon says he was involved with the Save the Maitai group early on because he used to walk around the area affected by the proposed plan change.
“Initially, a lot of information about the potential impact of that plan change worried me,” Dixon says. “However, over time I realized that much of the information I was given was inaccurate.”
Dixon was “satisfied to let the trial proceed based on the evidence before the panel”.
“I didn’t want to be actively involved in it.”
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A concept image of what some of the first homes could look like if the development is given the green light. Kākā Hill is in the background.
However, another statement of evidence — purporting to be Dixon’s — was filed on July 11 by Save the Maitai attorney Sally Gepp, in which Dixon called for the request to change the plan to be denied.
In Maassen’s signed statement, Dixon says Gepp’s statement “does not reflect my opinion” and called for it to be removed.
Gepp said on Thursday that she had already informed the panel that the statement had been withdrawn before Maassen handed in Dixon’s signed statement on Wednesday.
“After the written statement was submitted, I was approached by Mr. Dixon to say he had not approved it and wanted it removed,” Gepp said. “I immediately informed the hearing that the statement was being withdrawn and also responded directly to Mr. Dixon.”
FRY FASTER / STUFF
Save the Maitai went to council chambers to protest a proposed development in the Kākā Valley. Video first published in September 2020.
Gepp said Dixon had previously agreed to speak at the hearing, so a version of an earlier speech he gave was converted into a written statement before the hearing “with his input.”
However, the final version of the statement was not sent to Dixon for approval, “due to a miscommunication after the group member responsible for sending it and getting Mr. Dixon’s approval with Covid came out”.
“Save the Maitai is confident that the information it has shared with the community about the plan change is accurate,” Gepp said, adding that it was publicly available on Save the Maitai’s website. Nelson City Council website†