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Last month, Auckland Council endorsed draft Plan Change 120 (PC 120), a major revision to the Auckland Unitary Plan that will reshape where housing growth happens and tighten rules around flood and coastal hazard areas across the Hibiscus Coast.
The change replaces the earlier Plan Change 78 (PC 78), which proposed widespread “blanket” upzoning across Auckland’s suburbs. Instead, PC120, formally called Housing Intensification and Resilience, takes a more targeted approach, directing development along major transport routes, corridors and around urban centres, and better managing natural hazards.
Mayor Wayne Brown said the change will allow the Council to downzone flood-prone land and build up in areas that make sense such as transport corridors, walkable catchments, and where there is significant infrastructure, including water pipes, roads, and train lines.
The revised plan sees significant change for the Hibiscus Coast. According to the Council’s evaluation report, under PC 120, the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area will have around 45,000 fewer plan-enabled dwellings.
Instead, intensification will be concentrated around Ōrewa, Silverdale, Millwater and Whangaparāoa town centres, and along key transport routes such as Whangaparāoa Road and Hibiscus Coast Highway, partly in anticipation of the O-Mahurangi Penlink upgrades. These locations already have infrastructure and access to public transport, making them more suitable for medium-density housing. Several terrace and apartment building zones carry over from PC 78 around Ōrewa and Whangaparāoa town centres.
Suburbs including Ōrewa East, Red Beach and parts of Manly are zoned Mixed Housing Suburban or Mixed Housing Urban, allowing more townhouses and apartments within walking distance of shops and services. However, low-lying or coastal areas, such as parts of Stanmore Bay, Hatfields Beach, Stillwater and the Ōrewa Estuary fringes, are more tightly controlled due to their vulnerability to flooding and erosion, and remain or are rezoned into single residential.
The changes come after the severe weather events that highlighted how vulnerable parts of the Coast are to flooding and slips.
During the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods in January 2023, heavy rain inundated Ōrewa’s lower streets and caused major surface flooding.. Only weeks later, Cyclone Gabrielle brought more slips on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and damaged homes near steep gullies and stream banks. Further afield, Hatfields Beach and Waiwera also experienced severe flooding.
Under draft PC 120, Council has introduced stronger natural hazard overlays that apply to high-risk areas. These overlays identify flood-prone land, coastal inundation zones and slope-instability areas where new development will face stricter consent requirements.
In the most at-risk locations, new housing may be limited or require higher floor levels, improved drainage or additional engineering reports before consent can be granted. Council says the aim is to prevent new intensification in places repeatedly hit by extreme weather or at threat of natural hazards.
The Council expects that draft PC 120 will be publicly notified on November 3, after which submissions will open.
All the information about the plan is on the Auckland Council website. Also, by making a submission, residents have the chance to speak during public hearings as only initial submitters have this opportunity.
