My Account
Council’s Regulatory Services director Penny Pirrit gave a high level overview of the Unitary Plan recommendations at a media briefing in Auckland.
There will be a whopping 145 per cent increase in the amount of land in Rodney zoned for terrace housing and apartment buildings if the final recommendations of the Auckland Unitary Plan are adopted by Auckland Council this month.
The Independent Hearing Panel’s recommendations were made public on July 27.
Overall, the plan recommends a greater level of residential intensification in urban areas throughout Auckland, but also in townships such as Warkworth. And while the Rural Urban Boundary will be retained, it won’t be unchallengeable. The panel has recommended that it be expanded to include 30 per cent more land, which can be re-zoned by private plan change on a case-by-case basis.
It sees growth being apportioned along similar lines to the Auckland Plan – 60-70% within existing urban areas and the remaining 30-40% in satellite townships and rural areas.
The zoning changes will accommodate an additional 422,000 dwellings in Auckland by 2040, which includes 14,000 in the rural zones.
While the panel is recommending a small decrease in the amount of land zoned rural and coastal settlement in Rodney, it has recommended a 26 per cent increase in land zoned mixed housing suburban, a 50 per cent increase in the amount of land zoned for mixed housing urban, and a 145 per cent increase in terrace housing and apartment buildings zoned land (up from 31 ha to 78ha).
Other recommendations include deleting the schedule sites of value to Manu Whenua until there is more evidence to support it, removal of the pre-1944 building demolition control overlay aimed at retaining neighbourhood character, and a downgrade in the level of protection for prime agricultural land.
Council’s Regulatory Services director Penny Pirrit says that overall, the panel is recommending that growth in Auckland’s urban areas be focussed around town centres, transport hubs and corridors, along with an expansion in the Rural Urban Boundary.
The Panel has spent the last two years formulating the plan which will determine how and where Auckland grows over the next 30 years.
Auckland Council will make decisions on the recommendations at meetings from August 10 to 18.
The full set of recommendation reports and the panel’s version of the Unitary Plan is available at: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/unitaryplan
Next steps
Aug 10-18: Council to make decisions on the Unitary Plan recommendations
Aug 19: Council decisions notified
Sept 16: Appeal period closes
