A hall in Mt Eden has been packed out for a public meeting tonight over concerns about high-rise apartments and the loss of “Special Character” status for hundreds of villas and bungalows in the wider neighbourhood.
Tonight’s meeting has been organised by the Character Coalition, comprising about 60 heritage and community groups, and local residents, in response to the latest urban development plans for Auckland.
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After a video about the Special Character area in Mt Eden, council officers will explain maps showing the proposed changes.
This will be followed by speeches from Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor Christine Fletcher, Albert-Eden Local Board chairwoman Kendyl Smith, architect Julie Stout, Mt Albert MP Helen White and a written statement from Epsom MP and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, who is overseas on ministerial business.
MPs from National and the Greens have also been invited to the meeting.
In his statement, Seymour said that while the latest plans were an improvement on an earlier plan for three houses of three storeys everywhere, they still had significant flaws, especially up-zoning ahead of necessary infrastructure and demand.
He described this as a poor way to address housing affordability.
Seymour said he would advocate to RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop that the plan was not necessary and would have negative unintended consequences.
Auckland’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.
In order to replace the last Government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), allowing for “3 x3″ homes everywhere, Bishop has agreed Auckland Council can opt out if it adopts new planning rules for the equivalent number of two million homes.
The council’s draft replacement plan includes allowance for 10- and 15-storey apartments in 44 town centres and along transport corridors, and a further loss of kauri villas and bungalows.
Bishop is eager to up-zone 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 would lose Special Character status under the draft replacement plan.
Before the meeting, Character Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes said it was an opportunity to learn what could be done to avoid the worst consequences of the latest proposal for intensification and loss of character.
“These protected areas have existed for many years in Auckland’s city plans,” she said, saying a major study last year found the city’s character housing to be a global gem of 19th- and 20th-century timber architecture, unmatched in scale and quality.
Hughes said the plan lacked a clear urban strategy, encouraged high-rise buildings, and placed more pressure on already stretched infrastructure such as schools, open spaces, and water and wastewater services.
Earlier this week, 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,” said Fletcher, bemoaning the council’s weak pushback on the two million target.
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