David Seymour has blasted Auckland Council for the inaccessibility of zoning maps showing the impact of a major, city-wide housing intensification plan.
However, a council leader said the organisation had made efforts to make the potential changes available to Aucklanders, and was “committed to providing clear and timely information” to residents.
The Deputy Prime Minister – who is also MP for the central Auckland electorate of Epsom – told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast that Auckland MPs were getting “voluminous feedback” on the plan since it was announced last month.
The plan isn’t finalised, with public meetings already taking place and formal public consultation expected to begin next month.
However, Seymour told host Mike Hosking that anyone wanting to find out how their property was affected by the plan which would allow Auckland to grow to a total of two million homes – including up to 15-storey developments near train stations and transport hubs and greater intensification across much of the city – had to battle through multiple links on the council website.
“Frankly, I don’t believe [the feedback’s] as strong as it could be because of the way that the Auckland Council has behaved.
“To find those maps, you actually have to go into the section of the Auckland Council website where they keep the minutes of the meetings. Then you’ve got to go to the special planning committee’s minutes, then you’ve got to plough through that to download these images … the thing that people are most interested in is one of the most hidden things.”
He challenged Auckland Council to “put [the maps] on the front page of the website this morning”.
“Ratepayers paid for these maps. You’ve been preparing them since April, and then you release them after Parliament voted on the legislation, which you clearly knew was coming but chose to prepare a plan that you used for your purposes, but not to inform public debate about, and I think that is shameful.”
The Herald has produced its own interactive graphic, where readers can see how the changes affect their neighbourhood.
The council’s policy, planning and Governance director Megan Tyler said the draft maps were available on the OurAuckland news homepage and would be displayed “more prominently on the council’s website aucklandcouncil.govt.nz“.
The Herald has asked for clarification on when the latter would occur.
Along with publishing on OurAuckland, the council had shared the map data with media, as they reached more people, Tyler said.
The council was “committed to providing clear and timely information” to help Aucklanders understand how the changes may affect their communities, she said.
“This plan change is a draft, so please note the maps are still being updated to correct errors, anomalies and incorporate feedback from council local boards and iwi.”
Auckland councillors agreed last month to the initial phase of the plan to accommodate up to a total of two million homes in the city – which includes existing homes – when they took up RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop’s offer for the council to “opt out” of the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS).
The MDRS was introduced by the last Government and allowed for three houses of three-storeys everywhere – raising concerns in Auckland, including that new development could take place in flood zones impacted by the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
The MDRS could be abandoned only if the council adopted new planning rules to allow for an equivalent number of homes, said Bishop, who is also Housing Minister.
Seymour told Hosking he was concerned the new plan required almost no greenfield development, where infrastructure costs could be recovered from new residents, unlike in old suburbs.
In Parnell, a building fell into a sinkhole two years ago after a 120-year-old brick sewer “imploded”.
“We do need to make it easier to build a home, but what we absolutely cannot do, is dislocate planning and infrastructure provision, which will lead to a total disaster.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon – speaking this morning at the opening date announcement of New Zealand’s first Ikea store - told media Auckland Council had asked for more flexibility around its draft plan for housing, and that’s what the Government had given them.
They “very much support” housing intensification over transport hubs, specifically apartments, Luxon said.
“[But] I personally think there should be a lot more greenfields opened up across Auckland as well.”
Aucklanders would have their say on the plan “and we’ll listen to that”, he said.
Seymour also told the Mike Hosking Breakfast he didn’t want to see “very good friend and very impressive politician” Bishop “demonised” for change that was needed.
“I actually agree with Chris about one other thing. If we want this country to work, then the next generation must believe that if you do all the right stuff, listen to your teacher, study, grow up, get a job, save your money carefully, then you will have a place of your own.
“As soon as you take away the ladders of opportunity to a property-owning democracy, you get a generation who doesn’t believe in that concept, and you have big trouble.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.