Council has replied to questions I asked on the Unitary Plan

 

While I know that the mega transport announcements have everyone’s attention, we still have other critical issues that affect Auckland as well. That being the Unitary Plan which is under deliberations for the next few months.

You will remember I sent off some emails to Council on some issues around the Unitary Plan that have cropped up at the moment. The first round of questions were mentioned in my “Update on Unitary Plan Submission Counts” and were:

And the top “themes” submitted on are:

Council has replied in part and I wish to express my thanks and gratitude to our Unitary Plan planners (and the public affairs team as well). I still have some questions outstanding to which I will be chasing up our Deputy Mayor next week. Those questions being about opening up two workshops and getting Manukau onto the July 31 workshop that is discussing the City Centre.

 

The reply to my question around the issue with height from Council

Public feedback is grouped under a number of themes that each represent a key section of the draft Unitary Plan – ‘residential’, ‘rural’, ‘heritage,’ ‘business’ etc.

Grouping feedback under these themes, allows council to look the specific issues and topics that have been raised for each key area of the plan, identify where further work is needed, changes need to be made, concerns, support, and importantly, what issues need political direction.

Height is a key issue that comes up in relation to a number of the themes – most commonly relating to town centres or residential areas. While height is a significant issue for both, they require different responses and political direction that is addressed in context of that particular section of the plan.

Based on the feedback that has been coded, as well as what we heard at the 250 events council held over the 11 week informal engagement period, we know height is one of the main concerns from some communities. This is why the principles of height for the proposed centres was addressed at the first workshop.

The workshops currently being held are not ‘secret’ meetings, they are workshops for councillors and local board chairs to discuss key issues identified in the public engagement process.

Auckland Council holds informal councillor workshops regularly on a number of issues, in addition to the regular publicly notified Council meetings. It is started practice for local government. Dates for all of the workshops and reference groups are posted on the ShapeAuckland website so the public are informed of the work programme.

 The workshops are not where formal decisions are made on the Unitary Plan. Decisions will be debated and resolved at the Auckland Plan Committee in the usual way.

—–ends—–

 

I can here Penny (Hulse)’s voice in parts of that reply 😉

However, you can take what you want out of that reply from Council. I will post again on the Unitary Plan once I get a reply from the Deputy Mayor on the other issues raised.

TALKING AUCKLAND

Related articles

• The Next Steps for the Unitary Plan – All That Feedback and What Happens (voakl.net)
• The Next Steps for the Unitary Plan (voakl.net)
• Myths of the Unitary Plan (voakl.net)