Council maps show large parts of Auckland, currently dominated by one- and two-storey standalone homes, would be rezoned to permit three-storey terraced housing and low-rise apartments, under proposed changes.
Buildings of four storeys or more could be allowed with a resource consent.
Among the areas impacted by the proposed changes are Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s electorate of Botany, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour’s electorate of Epsom and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown’s electorate of Pakūranga.
Their electorates are poised to turn orange (three-plus storeys) from yellow (one and two storeys), as seen in the map below.
The changes are a response to a new framework for urban development in Auckland being established by RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop.
The city’s skyline is in for a major makeover, increasing the city’s capacity for new builds from 900,000 under the 2016 Unitary Plan to accommodating two million new homes.
Seymour said Act voted against the last Government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), allowing for three houses of three storeys everywhere, saying there was no point upzoning until the infrastructure problem was fixed.
“Where we have got to is a walkback from that.”
The Epsom MP said the more sensible compromise was getting sanity through the Mixed Housing Suburban zone (one to two storeys) and Mixed Housing Urban zone (three storeys or four storeys with resource consent) with controls over character.
Senior council planner John Duguid said that overall, there was less Mixed Housing Urban-zoned land in the latest draft replacement plan than under the MDRS proposal.
Council figures show 130,603 Mixed Housing Urban-zoned homes are enabled under the current Unitary Plan, 353,033 under the proposed MDRS, and 251,578 under the replacement plan change.
Brown, the MP for Pakūranga, expected the council to carry out a robust public consultation to ensure local voices were heard before final decisions were made on the draft replacement plan.
He noted that the Government had given the council flexibility to withdraw from the MDRS, provided it could identify equivalent housing capacity elsewhere. That, he said, should include greenfield development on the city’s fringes, not just intensification within existing suburbs.
“Auckland needs to grow both up and out to offer greater housing choices for its residents,” Brown said.
The Prime Minister’s electorate and home suburb of Remuera both face upzoning. His office declined to comment on the changes.
The Herald has also prepared a map showing the 44 locations where 15-storey and 10-storey apartment blocks will be allowed within a 10-minute walk of the CBD, train and bus stations and the edge of town centres.
There are 22 “walkable catchments” where 15-storey blocks will be allowed, and a further 22 for 10-storey blocks. Some of the catchments overlap.
The latest plans will be aired at a public meeting at Mt Eden on Thursday, where local politicians and MPs from National, Labour, Act and the Greens will face questions about urban intensification and the proposed loss of Special Character status for villas and bungalows in the neighbourhood, including Kingsland.
Bishop is eager to upzone Kingsland, an inner-city suburb poised to benefit from the City Rail Link opening next year. Under the council’s proposal, 70% to 80% of the area is expected to lose its Special Character status, although the avenues will retain theirs.
Council planning director Megan Tyler said under the draft changes and pending local board feedback, 408 homes in Kingsland and 167 in Mt Eden are set to lose their Special Character status to meet the Government’s housing targets for these areas.
Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor and former National minister Christine Fletcher said Bishop deserved recognition for intensification along improved rail corridors and measures to address natural hazards, but likened the target of two million homes to “planning by firing squad”.
“Forcing Auckland Council to create a massive two million housing supply environment that cannot be delivered physically or financially creates an enormous economic burden for future generations.
“Infrastructure-led development delivers superior outcomes to capacity-led development,” Fletcher said, bemoaning the council’s weak pushback on the two million target.
She said Singapore never released land until the infrastructure was in place, and UK councils worked to a five-year programme.
At a council meeting last week, Tyler said the plan for two million homes represents “enabled capacity”, not “feasible capacity”.
Lauren Hawken, who has a background in urban planning and is standing for the Ōrākei Local Board at October’s local body elections, said the “blanket upzoning” is going ahead with no regard to residents and their way of life.
It’s not just infrastructure that will come under pressure. Schools, healthcare, public transport, roading and community facilities all face increased demand, she said.
Hawken said developments are already going beyond what is permitted without consent, citing a fast-track subdivision development at Waimarie St in St Heliers where nine homes were allowed as of right, but 54 were approved.
“London manages to balance growth with heritage, neighbourhood input and amenity protections, while Auckland increasingly prioritises housing capacity over community voice and local character,” she said.
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