There goes the neighbourhood - part 2

By GEOFF CUMMING, part 2

Auckland City's flagship attempt to control where high-density developments occur and how they look is the new residential 8 zoning, approved in August. But the new zoning has been greeted as an even bigger threat to traditional villas and bungalows.

Nineteen areas have been earmarked for intensive housing; many around established shopping centres like Avondale, Mt Albert, Newmarket, Glen Innes and Panmure. But the zoning theoretically extends well beyond the main drag - apartments of three and four storeys will be allowed within an 800m radius (10 minutes' walking distance) of these shopping strips.

Pirrit says precisely which areas should be rezoned for high density will be thrashed out with locals in consultation exercises to develop "liveable community" plans. "We won't be covering the whole of these areas [with high density]. The council wants a range of lifestyle opportunities in the city."

Consultation is under way in the top priority growth areas: the CBD, Avondale, Newmarket, Glen Innes, Panmure and Otahuhu. Next in line are Grey Lynn, Pt Chevalier, Mt Albert, Remuera, Ellerslie, Onehunga and Sylvia Park. Parts of Balmoral, Sandringham and Royal Oak will be considered once drainage problems are resolved.

Other suburbs have been singled out for exemption from high-density development. These "areas of stability" include Herne Bay, much of Ponsonby, Parnell, Kingsland, Epsom, St Heliers, Blockhouse Bay and Lynfield. Elsewhere, developers who assemble sites of 1ha or more may also apply for zoning changes to residential 8. Pirrit says any applications will be publicly notified. The zoning will include design criteria, with rules covering noise, visual privacy and "streetscape" appearance, and a gradual transition from high to lower-density housing.

"It's about how we position buildings and how we scale them," says Pirrit.

"You're not going to see the council charging in and rezoning without discussion with the community. But the issue we have is that 141,000 is a lot of people to plan for. Whether we get that many is debatable but we don't want to be in a position where they suddenly turn up and we have a problem."

Yet the first attempt at a liveable community plan, in Panmure, proved an embarrassment. Reaction to plans for five-storey apartments east of the shopping centre forced the council back to the drawing board - with a newly formed residents' groups in tow.

"It seemed as if the council thought all they had to do was rezone areas and wait for developers to do the rest," says Sharp. "There was a lack of attention to the impact of rezoning on existing homes and communities."

For its part, the council wondered why the people jumping up and down hadn't shown up at the planning workshops - which highlights an ongoing problem for community consultation. Most people don't take much notice until they hear the bulldozers.

Pirrit says planning workshops tend to attract the same sort of people and it's especially difficult to get to minority groups. "It's a continual issue - how you get to affected people who may not read newspapers or the web and have enough problems just trying to make ends meet."

Two years on, after lengthy consultation with the community action group, a revised plan is out, limiting building heights to two storeys and concentrating development nearer the town centre and on old industrial land. Issues such as the location of the railway station and the route of the proposed eastern highway are still to be resolved but, says Sharp: "The basic outline is there - now it's a matter of getting down to detail."

Pirrit: "The really positive thing about Panmure is what came out of it. We had a few unpleasant meetings but there's a group of people now really interested in the planning process."

Similar consultation exercises are underway in Avondale, Newmarket and Glen Innes, where the first residential 8 zoning is in place for Housing New Zealand's Talbot Park redevelopment. Pirrit says the timetable for other areas is limited by resources - which leaves them vulnerable to market forces for now. Grey Lynn eagerly awaits its turn.

For Hugh Kempster, the prospect of 400 apartments on the doorstep of his Surrey Cres church is a mixed blessing. The industrial park next door attracts shady after-dark activity and the community does not oppose redevelopment in principle, he says. But the rulebook is loaded in favour of developers, with heritage given little protection. Residential 8 may prove a better way to guide development than the permissive business 4 zoning.

With his goatee beard, earring, black suede jacket and blue jeans, the vicar looks the part as a Grey Lynn advocate. But he says the rash of apartment and terraced housing developments at the West Lynn end of Richmond Rd, an area of Edwardian villas and leafy streets, is changing the area's non-conformist character.

"It's a worry that the concerns of the community are not really noticed until it's too late," says Kempster.

"We're very much aware of the growth strategy and the reasons for it. But we feel the changes that are happening to this area are so significant the community needs to be involved as well."

Positively Grey Lynn has asked Auckland University planning students to prepare zoning proposals to guide development in the area, which it will take to the council. Kempster says the group wants to forge a long term relationship with the council and developers, "if necessary being proactive in questioning resource consents ... We are starting to see the voice of the community heard."

Sharp, meanwhile, is advising other groups who wake one morning to cranes on their horizon. Up to 15 groups plan to meet in December to consider working together.

"The message from Panmure is that you can't sit back and expect things to go right. People have to get involved in planning their own neighbourhood. They can't sit back and then complain about it later on."

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