Yesterday’s Auckland Council Unitary Plan meeting

Council planners want to intensify housing in areas of the city that were previously off the radar but they face opposition from some residents in those suburbs.

The council argues the proposed changes are not binding and would be considered by an independent Unitary Plan panel along with all of the older submissions.

See the TVNZ news report here. See more news items from the NZ Herald here and here.

CHA received this response from Auckland’s Mayor, Len Brown, in reply to our letter endorsing the rezoning proposed under the plan.

“You will appreciate that, at its meeting on the 24^th of February, the Council’s Governing Body decided by a vote of 13 to 8:

That the Governing Body:

a) remove from the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan maps the ‘out of scope’ zoning changes made on 10 November 2015, which were not directly supported by any submission, and that this now be confirmed as Auckland Council’s position.

b) remove from the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan maps the ‘out of scope’ zoning changes made on 24 November 2015, which were not directly supported by any submission, and that this now be confirmed as Auckland Council’s position.

That the Governing Body:

c) note that the proposed ‘out of scope’ zoning changes (other than minor changes correcting errors and anomalies) seek to modify the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan in a substantial way.

d) note that the timing of the proposed ‘out of scope’ zoning changes impacts the rights of those potentially affected, where neither submitter or further submitter, and for whom the opportunity to participate in the process is restricted to Environment Court appeal.

e) in the interests of upholding the principle of natural justice and procedural fairness withdraw that part of its evidence relating to ‘out of scope’ zoning changes (other than minor changes correcting errors and anomalies)

the Council has now filed a memorandum with the Independent Hearings Panel which:

• Confirms that Council no longer supports Residential Out of Scope changes proposed in the evidence filed on council’s behalf.
• Seeks leave to withdraw all parts of evidence filed on its behalf that relate to Residential Out of Scope Changes
• Seeks guidance from the panel on matters relating to the participation of expert witnesses – acknowledging that Council’s withdrawal of parts of its evidence raises issues about their participation.

Zoning maps reflecting the Governing Body resolutions should be available prior to the hearings on Rezoning and Precincts which start on the 3rd of March. These will be available on the Independent Hearing Panel and Auckland Council websites. The Independent Hearings Panel will hear evidence on residential zoning from the other 990 submitters and consider over 4,000 written submissions and then make recommendations on what changes should be made to the unitary plan in July 2016.

Council will make decisions on these recommendations in August 2016.