Auckland councillors have today approved the initial phase of a new plan to accommodate two million new homes.
The city’s skyline is in for a major makeover in Auckland Council’s boldest planning update since the 2016 Unitary Plan. It aims to boost building heights and density around major transport routes and town centres, and address natural hazards.
Mayor Wayne Brown said: “We either do this ourselves, or we get done to us [by the Government]. The MDRS was done to us.”
He was referring to an option from RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop to “opt out” of the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), introduced by the last Government, that allowed for three houses of three storeys everywhere.
Bishop said the MDRS could be abandoned only if the council adopted new planning rules to allow for an equivalent number of homes.
“We need to intensify to make the best use of the City Rail Link, and we have to stop the city from sprawling out wide. Overall, this makes a lot of sense,” Brown said.
It was also the council’s chance to stop building on floodplains, the mayor said.
All but two councillors – Mike Lee and John Watson – voted to approve the draft replacement plan for consultation with Local Boards, iwi, neighbouring councils and government ministries. The plan will return to councillors on September 24 for a decision between adopting the new proposal or continuing with Plan Change 78, which addresses the MDRS.
Given the strong support shown today, it’s highly likely councillors will opt for the draft replacement plan. If so, it will proceed to public consultation at the end of October, with submissions closing before Christmas.
Councillor Richard Hills, who chaired today’s policy and planning committee meeting, said addressing natural hazards was a huge win for his hard-hit community on the North Shore, which two-and-a-half years ago asked for urgent help.
Under the current Unitary Plan, the council has been unable to downzone properties impacted by natural hazards, but will be able to with the new plan.
“Through negotiation [with the Government], we can remove the MDRS, we can deal with hazards,” Hills said.
Waitākere councillor Shane Henderson said: “This is great. It’s a significant step forward for our city. For a city that has had decades of shameful planning decisions that have left us with a huge hole, the Unitary Plan was the first step out of that hole, and here is another step.”
Henderson, a critic of special character areas that value villas and bungalows, said some progress had been made, but the plan still restricted new homes in places where they made most sense and acted as wealth protection for people who live there.
Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa Ward councillor Christine Fletcher said she could not see any science behind the ridiculous two million homes figure.
She wanted to hear from Local Boards and iwi, but said the real meeting would come next month, when serious decisions would have to be made.
“Let’s face it. Aucklanders over the past five years have had a pretty shitty time, and this is going to create more uncertainty,” Fletcher said.
Council planning director Megan Tyler clarified that the plan for two million homes represents “enabled capacity”, not “feasible capacity”, in response to Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson’s question about whether infrastructure could support the proposed target for intensification.
Senior planner John Duguid noted that the two-million-home target would stretch well beyond a 30-year timeframe, noting the infrastructure demands would be driven by population growth.
Among the proposed changes are:
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