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Most of the additional housing intensification proposed for the Hibiscus Coast will be removed under the latest rewrite of Auckland Council’s long-running housing plan.
The council’s Policy, Planning and Development Committee voted 17-5 on July 21 to approve further proposed changes to Plan Change 120 (PC120) for public notification. The decision does not introduce the new zoning immediately, but sends the revised proposal through another submission and hearings process.
The proposal would provide theoretical capacity for between 1.5 million and 1.7 million homes across Auckland, compared with about 1.2 million under the existing Auckland Unitary Plan.
About 85 per cent of Auckland’s urban area would remain under its current zoning, with additional intensification concentrated around the city centre, metropolitan centres, rapid transit stations and selected town centres and frequent bus routes.
Albany Ward councillor John Watson says the latest proposal effectively returns the Hibiscus Coast to the Auckland Unitary Plan rules adopted in 2016, meaning there would be no general increase in housing density across the Coast, unlike the first version of PC120, which proposed considerably more intensification.
Government-mandated provisions allowing six, 10 and 15-storey buildings within walkable catchments around rapid transit stations, the city centre and metropolitan centres do not apply to the Hibiscus Coast, Watson says.
However, some Coast properties could still be affected by changes relating to qualifying matters, particularly natural hazards. PC120 retains stronger controls on development in areas exposed to flooding, coastal erosion, coastal inundation and other risks.
Watson says the repeated changes have made the process difficult for residents to follow.
“This planning process has been going on for the best part of six years now with council directed to upzone by successive governments. It has been subject to constant change that has left people confused and anxious. Despite the lengthy delay the consultations have been rushed and the communications shambolic.”
By the time the next submission period closes, Aucklanders will have been asked to comment on the wider intensification programme at least five times.
Watson says continually increasing theoretical housing capacity doesn’t deliver affordable homes.
“A larger intensification footprint isn’t a housing policy. It’s a planning exercise that creates the appearance of supply without the substance. Its impact on housing affordability to date has been negligible as any first home buyer knows. Auckland’s home ownership has plummeted since the 1980s, which all the plans of the last decade have done little to arrest. In fact some have actually had the perverse effect of increasing the cost of land.”
Watson says more direct assistance for buyers is needed.
“What is required is a housing policy that helps first home buyers get into their own home. In earlier decades this was achieved through government assistance with low interest loans and securing deposits and a lower cost housing product that cut the cost of construction yet provided a good home.”
Public submissions on the latest proposal are expected to open at the end of August and run for four weeks. People who have already made a submission are welcome to provide additional feedback on the proposed changes through the additional submissions process. Their existing submissions will continue to have standing unless withdrawn.
An independent hearings panel will consider the submissions, hold public hearings and make recommendations to the council, with final decisions on PC120 expected in mid-2027.
Albany Ward Councillor Victoria Short says she is pleased with the outcome of the vote. “It takes us back to the approach in the Auckland Unitary Plan. It focuses extra housing in the places where it makes the most sense. That means mainly central Auckland, where the CRL, roads, pipes and other services are already in place.
This is a sensible and practical way to manage Auckland’s growth. The Hibiscus Coast simply doesn’t have the capacity above or below ground to handle a lot more intensive development right now. This approach also helps stop new housing from getting ahead of the infrastructure needed to support it.”
