Advice about living in the Stanmore Bay area

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pmnz

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#295348 22-Mar-2022 23:09

Hello,

Not sure where to post this, we are looking at purchasing a house in Stanmore Bay and wanting to know how the area is?

specifically in the area in this pictured

What's it like living on the coast?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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#2890412 23-Mar-2022 06:54

is it @xpd that lives out that way?

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#2890416 23-Mar-2022 07:16

We have family and friends who live/have lived on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula - overall it's a lovely area. The north coast (like Stanmore) is vastly preferable to the south coast (eg. Arkles Bay) because the north lies nicely to the sun and the south faces away from the sun and into the prevailing SW wind that comes across the water.

Historically the biggest PITA with living on the Peninsula is the appalling road out from Silverdale. That road alone would have put me off ever living there. If you're looking in the area, I'm sure you will be aware of the PenLink Road road that is planned to be started there sometime - how soon remains to be seen. It has been approved and is on the list but they're still trying to decide whether it will be tolled or not. Given the track-record and glacial pace of NZ roading infrastructure consturction, completion could easily still be five years away. Originally planned as one lane each way, it's now been redesigned as two each way. When completed it will be a game-changer.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

xpd

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#2890422 23-Mar-2022 08:23

Yes, I live not far off that map shown.

We love it here, been here 11 years now. Great real community, and 2mins to the beach :)

Personally, I'd stay off the Facebook groups for the Coast, can be extremely opinionated and downright nasty at times :) But think that applies anywhere.......

Brightside Road and Waiora Road can get busy during school drop off/pickup, but nothing like Auckland ;)

Fantastic New World down the road, Whangaparaoa Plaza is a bit dead these days especially since the big stores moved to the new Silverdale complex, but thats only 5mins away.

Bus service is pretty good, before Covid times, I'd catch the 982 on Whangaparaoa Road to HBC Station, then grab an NX1/2 into town.

Whangaparaoa Road itself can get busy at peak times, but generally keeps moving.

Looking in the area you've shown on the map, jsut be wary along the stream, some properties back onto it and its known to flood during heavy rans - it is full of eels as well, so can end up with a living backyard after flooding :)

Drop me a line if anything in particular you'd like to know about.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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timmmay

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#2890431 23-Mar-2022 08:52

How about renaming the thread "Advice about living in the Stanmore Bay area".

Stu

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#2890488 23-Mar-2022 09:22

Done

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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pmnz

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#2890492 23-Mar-2022 09:35

Thanks for the replies.

We think the area is really nice and we can get so much more house and land up there compared to on the Shore in Auckland. There are plenty of positives and the only huge negative which is the deciding factor is the commute. It would add an extra 30-45mins a day for the round trip (currently live in Hobsonville) i think so just weighing that up.

I was personally quite surprised how much has been built out there shops etc there is literally nothing i would need to go into the CBD for (except work) and Albany Mall is not far off either.

xpd

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#2890506 23-Mar-2022 10:22

Yeah, more bang for your buck as it were for now. Once Penlink goes in, pricing will go up to match the Shore I think.

Where abouts do you work now ? And do you need a car for it ? :) I work next to the Auckland ports, takes about an hour on bus in morning, and 1/1.5 on way home depending on traffic etc, so not really much worse than a car ;)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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pmnz

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#2890516 23-Mar-2022 10:51

Work in the CBD but usually wfh 2-3 days a week.

With petrol costs may have to look into an EV or PHEV if driving!

I keep seeing this Penlink but i can't quite find info on what it actually is?

alasta

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#2890517 23-Mar-2022 10:58

pmnz:

Work in the CBD but usually wfh 2-3 days a week.

With petrol costs may have to look into an EV or PHEV if driving!

I keep seeing this Penlink but i can't quite find info on what it actually is?

Details here.

irpegg

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#2890524 23-Mar-2022 11:24

Bought here 3 years ago and grew up in the area:

Pro's:
- Easy beach access.
- Easy access to generic shops. E.g. 2 supermarkets, mitre10, Silverdale mall close by.
- Fibre everywhere.

Con's:
- The people (coasties) are a bit rough around the edges. But they are slowly being priced out and moving north. Still a lot of lifetimers though.
- Some parts are pretty rough in Stanmore Bay, especially around brightside and stanmore bay school on your map. Have a good look at your neighbours when you're buying.
- The commute is a killer from CBD. The Gulf Harbour Ferry will be cancelled if there is over 5 knots of wind and you get put in a bus. Otherwise its 50 minutes and $12 each way. They go on about Penlink, but thats still another 5 years away, and its a toll road at $4 each way. So we are just paying to reduce traffic for Milldale people getting off at Silverdale.
- Majority of Stanmore Bay is on tank water, which ranges from $200 - $350 to fill up each summer. Watercare also charges you a flat-fee of $60 for wastewater, which is ridiculous but you can off-set this by installing your own water meter.
- There is nothing to do here after 4PM. Very retiree focused(Orewa especially) and a lot of hobbies or activities you will travel back to the shore or city.
- If you get a building inspection, make sure they have a focus on flooding. I have friends on Totara that get significant flooding when it rains because of poor drainage on the ridge that Brightside is built upon.
- Local schools aren't the best if you have kids.

It's a good place to get your foot on the ladder. I initially refused to buy here because i grew up here, but its still a lot better than living out west at a similiar price point and you get way better options for housing. If the market wasn't turning, we'd probably be looking at moving on this year

xpd

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#2890534 23-Mar-2022 11:42

Wow, you do have a salty view of the coast :D

We find people here are lot better than the Shore where we came from :) Yes there are bad eggs floating around, but not like theyre wandering the streets looking for trouble etc.

Commute is bad anywhere you live and work these days, no escaping it. Also no point taking GH ferry if in Stanmore Bay, the commute to GH would drive me nuts :D

Yes, a lot are still on tank, but i prefer that over mains water - but we are on mains (have a tank as well but just gets used to fill pool).

Schools are no worse than anywhere else IMHO, our two kids are doing well (we were told one would never read/write well, and she is flying along at the same level as her classmates, mainly thanks to some awesome teachers at Stanmore Bay School).

LOL at the after 4pm comment, its true :D We went to the local "Beer Spot" before 10pm one Saturday, and got told "sorry, last call already done" - thought our watches were wrong. Ended up at the Crows Nest.

There is a new bar open now though at the plaza, "Paroa", and its quite good with live music, pool tables, darts etc.

Anyway, all above is IMHO and cant be ignored if you wish :D

PS: Every second house has a boat, so if you like fishing, you're sure to find a fishing buddy ;)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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eracode

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#2890570 23-Mar-2022 12:14

pmnz:

I keep seeing this Penlink but i can't quite find info on what it actually is?

I put a link to it for you in my post earlier this morning.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

pmnz

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#2890683 23-Mar-2022 14:19

Great thanks alot

neb

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#2890845 23-Mar-2022 16:28

pmnz:
What's it like living on the coast?

Grew up about a km from there and Mother Neb still lives there. As @eracode pointed out, the long thin thread of a road to get from there to the motorway is a killer, if you work in the city then you absolutely don't want to live there because you'll be sitting in gridlock every morning and evening. Don't hold out for PenLink, that's been on the verge of being built for over thirty years now with nothing being done. Friends of my parents were compulsory-purchased out of their house something like twenty years ago - they've both died of old age in the meantime, council could have saved themselves the money - in preparation for construction, Google earth shows scrub where the house used to be so the only thing that's made any progress is tree growth.

If you want to see what you're in for, drive up there around 5pm on a workday, and if you can manage it drive down around 7:30-8am on a workday.

Apart from that, it's fine, with @xpd's caveat about the stream flooding. In compensation, there's a lovely walk along the stream that takes you straight to the New World, so you can walk instead of drive for groceries.

Also if you're close to the school and kindergarten it can get fairly rowdy during the week.

neb

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#2890846 23-Mar-2022 16:30

pmnz:
I keep seeing this Penlink but i can't quite find info on what it actually is?

It's the Auckland council equivalent of the Spanish word mañana, but without the sense of urgency.

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