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.
The draft plans would see Auckland’s skyline 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.
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Council planner Ceila Davison said the draft replacement plan was “really significant” and will change the way Auckland looks over a very long time if the council goes ahead with it next month.
This was followed by speeches by local leaders, including Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor Christine Fletcher, who has lived in a villa in Mt Eden for 45 years.
Fletcher said the council was trying to meet a completely unacceptable target.
“Character and heritage are a big part of who we are as this community,” she said.
Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton said people have three weeks before the council votes to proceed with the draft replacement plan.
He urged people to put community-led pressure on Minister Chris Bishop, who has enormous power as RMA, housing, and infrastructure minister.
“The council has a gun to its head,” he said.
Meanwhile two members of the public called for housing action. One said he lives in a damp, mouldy flat in a special character area, and blamed older people for preventing change.
Another said he supported zoning character housing for six-storey apartments as he did not want to have to live out in Drury.
Epsom MP and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, who is overseas on ministerial business, provided a written statement.
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 Bishop that the plan was not necessary and would have negative unintended consequences.
Mt Albert MP Helen White described the plan as a gnarly issue, adding there is a need for affordable housing and the serious issue of homelessness.
“We need to go up rather than pave the city in concrete, but the Government needs to make sure we build well, and have money for infrastructure,” said the Labour MP.
National MP Paul Goldsmith said he was there to listen. We should have a discussion and a debate about the 2 million figure and, if we stick with it, where to put the houses, he said.
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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