'Not fit-for-purpose': Waipā councillors on Govt's high-density housing rules

Waipā is concerned the new rules will overload stormwater, water and wastewater infrastructure by retrofitting into existing pipework. Photo / Supplied

Cambridge and Te Awamutu are included in new Government rules that would allow up to three houses of up to three storeys on most residential sites without needing consent – and Waipā District Council is not at all happy.

The moves were announced last month by Housing Minister Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker to allow more homes, including more affordable homes, to be built faster.

Both the Government and the National Party support the announcement as a way of addressing New Zealand's dire housing crisis.

The changes affect five Tier 1 cities — Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.

Waipā District mayor and councillors with the chief executive. Photo / Supplied

The new rules, in the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply & Other Matters) Amendment Bill, would allow medium-density housing for all residential zones in Tier 1 councils' urban areas, including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga Wellington and Christchurch urban areas. Waipā is included within Hamilton's "urban area", along with the Waikato district.

The Bill received major opposition from Waipā District councillors when it was discussed at the council's Strategic Planning and Policy Committee meeting last week.

The Bill was deemed "not fit-for-purpose" for Waipā's towns, with concerns raised that ad hoc three-storey developments would take away from the character and good urban design in Cambridge and Te Awamutu, and had the potential to overload stormwater, water and wastewater infrastructure by retrofitting into existing pipework.

The Bill intends to deliver more housing, but doesn't address affordability issues, councillors commented.

Waipā Mayor Jim Mylchreest said: "I think this is another knee-jerk reaction by the central government that hasn't thought the problems through.

"We all appreciate that we need higher-density developments but in the most appropriate place. In terms of spoiling our existing amenity values within our existing residential areas, this is almost guaranteed to do that, " he said.

He said the Bill should have been presented in a stepped consultation process with local government feedback taken on board.

Waipā District Council Mayor Jim Mylchreest. Photo / Stephen Barker

Mylchreest also expressed concerns about the shadowing effect from reduced boundary setbacks and major population impacts on soft infrastructure such as parks and reserves if the proposed bill was approved.

"This Bill doesn't take into account the impact on our parks and reserves and the huge impacts that effectively tripling the population density would have on them. I think this is a recipe for creating slum situations and a huge additional cost on ratepayers to retrofit stormwater, sewage and water pipes. I think it's totally inappropriate for Waipā.

"Council have established well-thought-out plans that we have consulted on and got community support. The community that has bought into that for however many generations should get council support to protect their investment.

"The community have trusted council to enforce our existing standards to protect their position in the residential sense and we have an obligation to look after their interests. This is uncontrolled growth that's going to impact on existing ratepayers," Mylchreest said.

Staff will now put together the council's concerns in the Waipā District Council's response to the Bill before the November 16 submissions deadline.

In Hamilton, Mayor Paula Southgate has warned the city could change irrevocably as a result of the changes.

Mayor Paula Southgate says there is a strong focus on core infrastructure and on looking after the assets Hamilton has already invested in. Photo / Mike Walen

"The reality is that the standards announced are a lot more relaxed than our current district plan rules. They will enable quite radical changes to height, plus how close and how high you can build to the front and side boundaries of sections. They are significant and they will change the look and feel of some of our neighbourhoods.

"Our council will have a lot of questions around funding and how these changes fit into the growth we already have planned," she said.

"As a city, we've done huge amounts of work to determine where growth should go. And we've planned for that growth by putting in the right infrastructure, like roads and water services and parks, in place. So I certainly won't be happy if the Government now comes along and dictates new growth areas without first agreeing on them with us.

"You can't just put more people into more houses and expect existing infrastructure to cope. So we will certainly be looking for financial and other support from the Government to deliver on their changes."