The Government is poised to water down controversial planning rules in Auckland that allow capacity for two million homes over the coming decades.
In a column in today’s Herald, political columnist Matthew Hooton said a U-turn could come as soon as Monday to deny Act, New Zealand First and Labour a potent issue on which to raid the blue vote at this year’s election.
The Post newspaper in Wellington also reported that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made a captain’s call to water down intensification plans in the suburbs, which had been championed by Housing Minister Chris Bishop.
The Prime Minister’s office said it did not have anything to add at this point and directed the Herald to Bishop’s office.
In a statement to the Herald, Bishop said, “The Government is considering a range of options around housing capacity targets for Auckland, and as Minister of Housing I will have more to say soon.”
In a brief statement, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said he had not been contacted directly by the Government about changes to housing figures, but believed Hooton had summed up the situation quite well.
Brown, who supports greater intensification across the city, told the Post the excessive “target” had “upset a whole lot of people over something that will never happen”.
Thousands of Aucklanders have weighed in on the Government’s mandated intensification plans for the city, which open the door to two million potential homes but tightens controls on building in flood‑prone areas.
More than 5000 Aucklanders had a say on Plan Change 120 when submissions closed last month. The proposed changes are the most significant shake‑up of Auckland’s planning rules since the 2016 Unitary Plan, increasing building heights and density around major transport routes and town centres, which have wide support.
But there is strong push-back about extending intensification into suburban streets and replacing villas and bungalows with apartments in the city’s oldest suburbs. Concerns have also been raised about the impact of intensification on physical and social infrastructure.
The plan change is being overseen by the Auckland Council after Bishop told the council it could withdraw from the previous Government’s rules allowing three homes of up to three storeys on most residential sites, but only if it delivered the same overall capacity, estimated at two million homes.
At a packed public meeting in Luxon’s Botany electorate last month, there were calls for the Government to pull back the two million housing figure, with Howick councillor Bo Burns saying people in East Auckland were not the only ones alarmed. People in other National strongholds like Ōrākei, Mt Eden and Franklin were too.
Former National Cabinet minister Maurice Williamson today said there had to be a U-turn.
“I just can’t understand how they [National] have been foolish enough to let it run so long and over the barbecue season,” said Williamson, who warned the Government before Christmas to pull back, saying the issue was leading to public anger and would cost National votes at this year’s election.
“The better time would have been to do it quickly rather than let it drag on. They will look like they have done it because they have buckled under pressure as opposed to saying, ‘We have listened’, which is a good outcome politically,” he said.
Williamson, who is now one of two councillors for the Howick Ward, said he had not heard if National had decided to do a U-turn, but at a meeting of the Howick Local Board had predicted a backdown.
In his column, Hooton said National strategists say they realised the two million figure had become a lightning rod for criticism.
He said options included new capacity in the CBD and building on the opening this year of the City Rail Link.
“Bishop’s programme could then be positioned as being about developing the CBD into a lively, high-population, low-crime inner-city, as found in most developed countries, while protecting the Kiwi way of life in the suburbs,” Hooton said.
Waitākere councillor Shane Henderson, a strong supporter of Plan Change 120, urged the Government to stick with the process underway, with feedback from Aucklanders completed and a panel appointed to hear submissions.
He said the two-million figure provided a good framework for future planning, and he was concerned that pulling back now would lead to down-zoning in the central city suburbs, where growth should be encouraged.
“I’m sick of the politics of this,” Henderson said.
The Coalition for More Housing today said it was “deeply concerned” about reports that Luxon was intending to backtrack on Plan Change 120.
Spokesman Scott Caldwell said the group would be opposed and distraught if the housing figure was lowered.
Asked if it would make a difference if the two-million housing figure was pulled back to 1.5 million, Caldwell said lowering the two-million figure would undermine the feasible capacity of new homes.
“Any pulling back would be compromising Auckland’s housing affordability,” he said.
Caldwell said constant back and forth over new planning rules for more housing since 2020 inevitably meant more delays, and it could be the 2030s before more houses were delivered.
“Waiting until 2035 to deliver real cost-of-living wins is a generation too late for those struggling to find affordable housing in our largest city,” he said.
Character Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes said the membership of 60 heritage and community groups would be very happy to see the two-million housing plan watered down.
“We want planning that reflects intensification that takes place once infrastructure is ready and is not just a random number plucked out of thin air. There should be more emphasis on thoughtful planning.”
Hughes said it became clear towards the end of last year that it wasn’t just the central suburbs that were appalled at Plan Change 120; it was people in wider suburban Auckland who were saying, “This isn’t necessary, this is ideologically crazy.”
She said flooding the market with houses would not bring prices down, as seen with the 2016 Unitary Plan allowing for 900,000 new homes.
Hughes said Bishop and Finance Minister Nicola Willis, both Wellington MPs, were following the intensification line without consulting their Auckland MPs.
“It has come back to bite them.”
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