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Councillor Wayne Walker says that the Hibiscus Coast – and Whangaparāoa in particular – will be badly impacted by the recently announced Housing Supply Bill.
Last month, the government, with bi-partisan support, introduced draft legislation that includes new ‘medium density standards’. The standards allow up to three houses of up to three storeys to be built on a site without resource consent. More than three can be built, subject to a non-notified consent.
If the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is passed, it will apply to existing residential zones, and to ‘green field’ land once it is subject to a plan change for zoning. Councils must implement the standards in their district plans and the rules will come into effect as soon as the plans are notified.
The Bill brings forward the implementation of intensification policies contained in the government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development, which came out last year.
Government’s stated intention is to improve the function of urban environments and make housing more affordable through competitive land and development markets.
However Cr Walker says it could be the exact opposite, leading to what he calls ‘uglification’, infrastructure overload and less affordable housing.
“The extra intensification that the Bill allows, together with the relaxation of controls over height, and height-to-boundary rules means more housing in areas unsuited to increased density. Whangaparāoa Peninsula is simply the wrong place to pack in more homes. The impact on infrastructure, especially roading, stormwater, sewage and water will be huge. Sea views may be compromised as greater numbers of taller buildings can be built closer to boundaries.”
Under the Unitary Plan, more intensive housing, including apartments, can already be built without consultation with neighbours. But Cr Walker says at least Council staff had oversight of what was occurring – that oversight, he says, will be gone under the proposed legislation.
He says developers will be incentivised to build to the maximum number allowed on a site.
“This doesn’t mean affordable housing – it leads to speculation that drives property prices up because it increases a site’s development potential. Without controls on quality and design, the appearance and liveability of housing suffers – so we get uglification.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Cr Walker says. “The Unitary Plan already caters for an additional 900,000 homes, rolled out according to how services and infrastructure can cope.”
Presentations about the potential implications of the legislation went to Auckland Council’s Planning Committee, and the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board this month.
Council’s planning team leader, Peter Vari, told the local board the biggest impact locally could be intensification in and around town and neighbourhood centres such as Whangaparāoa, Silverdale and Ōrewa and that infrastructure was a key concern.
“Council’s submission will point to the pressure the proposals put on infrastructure,” Vari said. “For example, recent upgrades to Army Bay wastewater treatment plant only considered existing zoning. This new level of development was not anticipated.”
Council must notify its plan changes that put this level of intensification into effect by August 2022.
Cr Walker says Council has made a solid submission against this legislation. It includes asking that the medium density design standards proposed be changed to achieve better green spaces, privacy, sunlight and setbacks from boundaries.
The public can make a submission: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCEN_SCF_BILL_116288/resource-management-enabling-housing-supply-and-other
Submissions close on Tuesday, November 16.
Local Councillors joined others in making this submission.
Backstories October 11, 2021
