What it's like being the only residents on a private South Auckland island

A luxury island development in South Auckland has welcomed its first residents after more than a decade in the works.

Pararēkau Island in Karaka was connected to the mainland by a causeway with a gate which would only allow cars belonging to residents to enter.

Prices for the lots started at $1.6m and up to $3.5m for prime spots.

In the past, the land was used to graze stock, but in 2012 the Environment Court approved plans for a subdivision after developers, Ian and James Ross, agreed to build a coastal walk allowing the public to access the island on foot.

General manager of developer Ross Holdings, Andrew Frost, said it had been in the works for a very long time and after consent for a subdivision was given the green light the developers looked at trying something different but reverted back to the idea in recent years.

In December, the very first residents moved into their brand new home on the island while Frost said four other homes were nearing completion.

There were 116 freehold sections on the island and titles issued for 103 lots - Frost said 50 percent of the available sections had now sold.

Paul and Mary Kenny, who had lived in nearby Papakura for 45 years were the first two people to be living on the island.

Paul Kenny said the island was their retirement location and they had been looking at houses in Karaka Harbourside, a development also by the Ross brothers, when they became aware of the island.

He said they heard by word of mouth that titles for the island weren't far off and so the couple got in touch and arranged a visit to the island.

"One visit and considerable research was all it took for Mary to say 'I could live there' and the rest as they say, was history.

"The proximity of the island to all amenities, the quality of the development itself and the potential lifestyle options Karaka presented all influenced our decision."

Being the first two people living on the island, was a "privilege", Paul Kenny said, and enjoyed the peace and quiet there.

"Not to mention the incomparable outlook across the inner reaches of the Manukau Harbour," he said.

The couple said they were, however, looking forward to the fact a few new neighbours were now beginning to move in as more houses reached completion.

Advertising for the island on social media in the past, had drawn questions from commenters about future sea level rise, but which Paul Kenny said was something he'd reflected on when first thinking of buying on the island.

"We we soon found both council and the developer had exhaustively canvassed the potential for this and their collective pronouncements on the subject, together with our own observations of the surrounding area, caused us to feel very comfortable," he said.

Frost confirmed the lowest section on the island was 6.5m above sea level and the entire island satisfied council's Auckland Council's 100-year sea level rise criteria.

He believed many of the comments received on social media were from "keyboard warriors".

"It's very topical obviously, with the floods that have happened to Auckland... council would never have allowed us to do the subdivision unless it was safe to do so."

Frost said he was of the belief the island was the only gated community island in New Zealand.

"So vehicles can't proceed past the gates unless they've got a code... so it's a very secure island.

"There is a pedestrian gate so people can walk around the edges of the island between the hours of 7am to 7pm, so it's walking only [for non-residents], if they need to come across on a vehicle unfortunately they cannot unless they get permission from a resident."

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.