Public left out of big-squeeze plan

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Auckland City Council is seeking to relax the rules for high-density housing in suburban areas without giving the public a say.

Only months after assuring city residents that a new form of multistorey housing would be restricted to sites of one hectare or more, council officers have agreed to an appeal from Housing New Zealand for high-density housing on smaller sites.

Senior council planners have retained the 1ha minimum area of suburban land for three, four and five-storey housing but recommended amending the residential 8 plan change "to consider parcels of land with a less area of 1ha which meet the zone requirements".

Auckland Housing Lobby spokeswoman Sue Henry said the proposal should have been put to the public when the council first notified the residential 8 zone change in November 2002, not "sneaked in" under the appeal process when the public had no say.

"This should not be put in the district plan. It will ultimately turn the city into a sea of slums for speculative gain," she said.

The council has created the residential 8 zone to squeeze more people into the city with promises of strict design rules in response to community anger at tacky, overcrowded developments.

The zone will free developers, who are running out of commercial land to build apartments, to target leafy suburbs for intensive housing.

Senior environmental planner Peter Rawson said in a report that the minimum 1ha area was considered important to discourage ad hoc pepperpot rezoning, allow comprehensive infrastructure planning and encourage residential 8 developments to be better integrated with existing neighbourhoods.

Mr Rawson said the 1ha minimum area should be retained but smaller sites considered which met the zone objectives.

His recommendations are backed by the council's manager of environmental planning, Penny Pirrit, and group manager of city planning John Duthie.

Penny Pirrit yesterday said Housing New Zealand pointed out at the earlier public submission phase and in its appeal that it might be appropriate to allow residential 8 in areas of slightly less than 1ha.

"The officers acknowledge that and have put in some assessment criteria so if people request a rezoning to residential 8 and the land area is slightly less than 1ha there is criteria to gauge if it is appropriate. It would still follow the public notification process," she said.

The council and Housing New Zealand need approval from two interested parties to the appeal, Westfield (NZ) Ltd and the Remuera Community Committee. If not, Housing New Zealand can seek a hearing before the Environment Court.

The secretary of the Remuera Community Committee, Jennie Hayman, said that while 1ha was an arbitrary figure and an 0.9ha development might be okay, she believed Housing New Zealand clearly did not want to be restricted by size for future developments.

A Housing New Zealand spokeswoman said the new residential 8 zone would not affect Housing New Zealand's Talbot Park redevelopment at Glen Innes - the first area in the council to be rezoned residential 8 - but could have an impact on future potential housing sites.

"The corporation's aim is to work with the city council to reach a balance between good design and building costs, while meeting the joint objective of providing higher-density housing."

High-density targets

The 19 suburbs identified for more high-density housing are the central business district, Avondale, Stoddard Rd, Mt Albert, Sandringham, Balmoral/Dominion Rd, Newmarket, Pt Chevalier, Surrey Cres/Grey Lynn, Mt Roskill, Onehunga, Royal Oak, Remuera, Ellerslie, Mt Wellington/Sylvia Park, Panmure, Glen Innes, Otahuhu, Mt Wellington quarry.