Francesca Rudkin: Good news for Auckland Council

It was a big day at Auckland Council yesterday, and I think a good day.   The Policy and Planning Committee met for most of yesterday to thrash out the future of Auckland’s housing, debating where and how Auckland is going plan for more homes. The council voted 18-5 to discard PC78 and notify PC120 – which basically means the 3 storey townhouses seen increasingly all over Auckland’s suburbs are on the way out, and high-rises and greater intensification around key CRL stations and transport corridors are in.   This is, of course, highly contentious – and where you lean in the debate may depend on what neighbourhood you live in. Residents of wealthy inner city suburbs like Mt Eden, Parnell, Herne Bay, and Grey Lynn will likely have reservations about more high-rise apartments in their neighbourhoods – citing a loss of character, loss of light, and an increased demand on infrastructure. The new plan retains 73% of the special character areas established under the 2016 Auckland unitary plan, which isn’t bad   The new plan is also about allowing the council to down-zone in some areas. The 2023 flooding taught us that it’s well past time we stopped further housing development in areas we now know are prone to flooding and coastal erosion. This is a no brainer.   It’s also cheaper to build where good supporting infrastructure already exists than it is to create new housing areas where infrastructure has to be developed from scratch. In particular, given the cost of the CRL, it makes sense to have as many people living near it and benefiting from it as possible. Or as the mayor said, “There’s no point in spending $6 billion on something if there’s nobody on the damn thing.”  Even though the council meeting voted in favour 18-5, it doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of discussion around the council table.   Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson asked for conditions around high towers. She suggested tall apartments need to be set back and have communal areas and facilities. Mayor Wayne Brown supported the amendment, saying there needs to be parking and commercial activity on the lower levels, and this was incorporated into the main motion. Carparking is essential, so it’s a sensible idea.   Councillor Christine Fletcher didn’t have quite the same luck with her amendment, which asked for greater consultation and for the plan change to be publicly notified. At present, public consultation will begin on November 3rd and close on December 19th. It’s quick. Fletcher's amendment would have dragged consultation out until the middle of next year.   To be honest, yesterday I thought the council would take the safe option and extend consultation, but after much debate about what Minister Chris Bishop would think about all this, the amendment was voted down 15-8.   While debate was generally a bit dry, the day did come with some interesting rhetoric. Councillor Maurice Williamson thought both options were unacceptable, saying, "It’s a choice between a firing squad and a lethal injection,". Rather surprisingly he voted for the plan – I’m not sure which option he considered this to be. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.