The Character Coalition is seeking to protect inner-city character suburbs from new housing intensification rules. Photo / Dean Purcell.
The Character Coalition is seeking to protect inner-city character suburbs from new housing intensification rules. Photo / Dean Purcell.
There is no need to rezone Auckland's historic suburbs for high-density housing when Government directives allow for 3.3 million new homes, says the Character Coalition.
Auckland Council figures show if Government plans for more intensification are fully implemented another 3,289,000 homes could be built over the long-term against a maximum projected demand for 913,000 homes.
Auckland Council is currently delivering historic numbers of about 20,000 building consents a year.
Character Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes said there is ample allowance in the council's Unitary Plan for new housing without going after the city's historic suburbs of kauri villas and bungalows.
Character Coalition chair Sally Hughes. Photo / Alex Burton
She said plans by Labour and National overshoot this figure by more than 2 million additional homes.
"It would be a great pity to ruin what small amounts of character are left just for a very small percentage of additional capacity," Hughes said.
She was referring to the Government instructing the country's fastest growing cities to change their planning rules to enable apartments of six-storeys or more close to large centres and busy public transport routes and three homes, three storeys tall on most suburban sites, including the city fringe, without a consent.
In a rare bipartisan measure, National and Labour passed the 3 x 3 rule last December to make it easier to build homes and address housing affordability.
The new law gives councils the discretion to consider "qualifying matters", including Special Character Areas (SCAs) - jargon for areas with villas and bungalows with heritage values - that are outside the rule.
In June this year, the council voted to propose keeping three-quarters of 21,000 homes in SCAs as a "qualifying matter" in a culture war over the city's identity between groups fighting to preserve the city's character and increase housing density.
The Character Coalition supports development but wants to protect the city's character suburbs. Photo / File
Ministers in Wellington think Auckland Council has been overzealous in the way it has applied qualifying matters to villa-heavy central suburbs, and believe its notified changes to the Unitary Plan breach the spirit and letter of the new rules.
Waitakere councillor Shane Henderson has been the most vocal critic against restricting housing supply in most of the SCA areas on the basis they are in areas close to the central city with access to good public transport "where housing is most needed".
Christchurch City Council this month voted against changing its planning rules to comply with the Government's housing directives.
Hughes said the coalition was not criticising Auckland councillors for adopting a "middle ground" for SCAs, saying it is very cognisant of the need for development and SCAs are desirable areas.
Under the new rules, anyone can build three-storey houses like this in Auckland without a building consent. Photo / Alex Burton
"But if you look at the main reason for the legislation was to enable affordable housing, we know that is not possible in those SCAs because of the value of the properties.
"We always thought it was a bit of a mismatch between what the Government was wanting from the legislation and the push by some groups to highly intensify Special Character Areas. That is not going to result in affordable housing," Hughes said.
Coalition for More Homes spokesman Oscar Sims has rejected this argument, saying building more homes will ease the pressure on the market and help affordability.
The council's evaluation report on the new 3 x 3 law said it is "very enabling" and provides the capacity to meet Auckland's demand into the very long-term and far beyond the 30- to 35-year horizon of the National Policy Statement-Urban Development allowing for six-storey-plus apartments.
If fully implemented in all locations, the report said, it would allow for 3,289,000 dwellings, excluding areas zoned for future housing.
"That indicates a large margin (of) around 2,376,000 dwelling capacity in the high demand future between projected demand (815,000-913,000 households by 2051) and enabled capacity," the report said.
In a statement, Environment Minister David Parker did not directly address the council's number of 3.3 million houses if the new rules were fully implemented.
He said the new rules do not require the maximum of three houses up to three storeys per site and "only a fraction of the sites will be developed to this extent" due to a range of factors, including the size of the site and buyer demand.
Parker said the regulatory impact statement on the law changes analysed how the land market operates and how the restrictive planning system had led to rising house prices and limited new supply.
Meanwhile, the council is urging people to give feedback on the proposed changes to the city's Unitary Plan rulebook allowing for more high-density housing before submissions close on Thursday this week.
Environment Minister David Parker. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Council general manager plans and places John Duguid said the changes will be "significant" for current and future Aucklanders.
"Making a submission is the single most important way for people to be heard on changes that will allow for more housing at greater heights and density close to urban centres, around rapid transit stops, and across most residential areas, including more apartments and townhouses," he said.
The submissions will be considered by an independent hearings panel. They will make recommendations to the council by March 2024.
If the council rejects any of the recommendations, the Minister for the Environment will have the final say. The process does not allow for appeals to the Environment Court.
