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The Hibiscus & Bays Local Board has asked for stormwater disposal constraints to be considered when resource consents are granted for development.
Currently Auckland Council’s Plan Change 78, which enables the Government’s urban density National Policy Statement, is before independent commissioners.
Local board deputy chair Julia Parfitt and chair Gary Brown took the issue to the commissioners on March 8.
Adequate water and wastewater provision has already been recognised as a potential ‘qualifying matter’, restricting where intense development can occur without resource consent. Member Parfitt says the board wants a stormwater disposal constraints control to be included as a qualifying matter where flooding issues are identified.
The proposal was put together before the recent flooding and cyclone events, but those weather events have put stormwater at the top of mind.
Parfitt says Council needs to look at historical documents about which areas had flooding issues, rather than rely on the zoning currently allowed under the Unitary Plan, which she says has upscaled zoning even on overland flow paths. “The former Rodney District Council catchment management plans were accurate, but those areas were up-zoned despite this,” she says. “Many had known stormwater issues.”
“We are seeking a site-specific approach to coastal hazards and inundation provisions. In this plan change, some of those provisions are looked at in a ‘blanket’ way but, for example, Ōrewa Beach is quite different from the inundation at Arkles Bay.”
The local board also asked that the provision of an adequate public transport network be a qualifying matter – something Auckland Transport chose not to put forward. Parfitt said they also looked at urban design, requesting that access to sunlight be considered as well as options for developers to apply best practice, which could result in things such as better open spaces and pedestrian access.
“My view is that Government needs to re-evaluate its urban density standards bearing in mind that a 100 -year storm could happen again as soon as tomorrow,” Parfitt says. “We’ve seen which areas are suitable to develop and we shouldn’t be intensifying everywhere.”
