Community urged to ‘keep pressure on’ as zoning changes submissions open

The strength of public feeling about changes that Auckland Council must make to residential zones on the Hibiscus Coast, now needs to be turned into strong submissions, according to one local councillor.

Last week, Council’s proposals to change the city’s planning rules, in line with central government requirements, opened for public submissions.

The proposed changes will enable three buildings of up to three storeys to be built on land currently zoned Single House, without the need for resource consent, unless a ‘qualifying matter’ (mainly infrastructure constraints) applies.

The government’s aim is to increase housing affordability and supply. A chart in the Council report shows the residential housing capacity in the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board area could increase from 40,300 dwellings to 234,900 if no qualifying matters were in play. The proposed constraints will decrease this by 46 percent (reducing the housing capacity to 127,200 homes).

Once the community became aware of the zoning changes, a series of large public meetings were held in  Whangaparāoa.  

Cr John Watson says making submissions is a chance to cement in proposed constraints relating to water and wastewater that will have a big impact on reducing density locally, as well as having a say about other matters, including transport infrastructure.

Watercare has identified almost all of  Whangaparāoa Peninsula, as well as other parts of the Hibiscus Coast, as having limitations in water and wastewater infrastructure which makes increasing density there inappropriate (see map p2).

Properties covered by these constraints will not have the automatic high-density zoning that sites without a constraint will have.

Watercare’s head of strategy and planning Priyan Perera says the organisation identified about 51,000 sites across Auckland where there are existing water or wastewater infrastructure constraints that are not able to be addressed in the next 10 years.

He says although a water or wastewater qualifying matter does not prevent development on those sites, it means that development or subdivision would require resource consent and a water/wastewater capacity assessment.

“If intensification was to occur in line with the National Policy Statement for Urban Development in the areas we’ve identified as having infrastructure constraints, communities would be faced with more wastewater overflows or a less reliable water supply,” Perera says. “We need to do everything we can to avoid that happening.”

Perera says on the Hibiscus Coast there are constraints relating to both water and wastewater infrastructure, with upgrades in the pipeline but much of it not until closer to 2030.

“We’re really grateful that Watercare has put forward this constraint, but it won’t please everyone, so it’s important that the pressure is kept on through submissions,” Cr Watson says.

Other areas around the Coast are identified as having coastal erosion, inundation and flood plain constraints. Certain areas (Waiwera and Stillwater locally) will not have the government’s Medium Density Residential standards applied because they have a population of less than 5000 and are not considered urban.

Another potential constraint identified locally was transport, including access to public transport and alternatives such as cycleways. However, Auckland Transport identified only Beachlands as having transport infrastructure constraints.

Cr Watson says real transport issues could not be identified because the process requires a site by site analysis.

“This approach could be challenged through submissions, as it is totally contradicted by the reality on the ground,” Cr Watson says.

Cr Wayne Walker says that the suggested qualifying matters could be challenged by developers, who produce reports to say that their development is within the capacity of the existing wastewater and water network.

“The cumulative effects [of large numbers of developments in an area] have never been picked up by the Resource Management process, he says.

Cr Walker says it’s important that people make submissions as specific as possible – such as on the qualifying matters. 

“While many will no doubt make submissions against the whole government plan for intensification, those cannot be taken into account by Council,” he says.

Council’s Plan Change 78 went online on August 18 and submissions are open until September 29. Info: ourauckland.nz/growingtogether