Bit late from Minister Adams about the Unitary Plan now…
I had read both an article from the NBR (behind a pay-wall) and the NZ Herald on Environment Minister Amy Adams being critical of the current state of the Proposed Unitary Plan.
As the NBR piece is still behind the pay-wall I will quote the Herald piece instead:
Major changes to Unitary Plan
Bernard Orsman 4:53 PM Friday Jun 13, 2014
Environment Minister Amy Adams. Photo / Stuart Munro
Environment Minister Amy Adams is seeking major changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan, which she says will not provide enough houses and make housing even more unaffordable in its current form.
In a cabinet-approved submission on the new planning rulebook for the Super City, Ms Adams says failure to make changes could have far-reaching economic and social consequences for Auckland and New Zealand.
She said the original objectives for a quality compact and design-led approach had been “betrayed” by overly-complex policies, overlays and rules.
“I seek the removal or loosening of prescriptive provisions in the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan where they are not supported and justified by evidence and analysis,” she said.
Ms Adams highlighted a requirement for affordable housing in large-scale developments, the need for people to seek iwi approval on thousands of sites, a pre-144 heritage overlay and sustainable building requirements.
Proposals to control genetically modified organisms were also unduly and unnecessarily stringent, she said.
“Based on Auckland Council and independent market-based modelling, there appears to be a large gap between the likely development capacity provided by the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan and that required to meet the development objectives and projected population growth over the next 30 years.
“Some estimates have the gap at about half of that required. This is concerning irrespective of what growth and household formation projects are used.”
Ms Adams said in some market-attractive areas the rules were especially constraining and in some cases represented a down-zoning from existing plans.
“She said the original objectives for a quality compact and design-led approach had been “betrayed” by overly-complex policies, overlays and rules. “I seek the removal or loosening of prescriptive provisions in the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan where they are not supported and justified by evidence and analysis,” she said.”
The Minister is correct there and it is something I have been saying all along since my submission to the Auckland Plan three years ago AND my submissions to the Unitary Plan. We need to scale back those development controls in the Unitary Plan right across the board if we are going to have any genuine attempt to get housing affordability back on track. This old but goodie from the former administrator of Transport Blog sums up my feeling in a nutshell: http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/10/23/taking-a-fresh-look-at-planning-regulation/
In short we should be (as the Minister is wanting via her submission) liberalising our planning rules, not throwing more controls into the Unitary Plan.
Continuing from the Herald
Ms Adams said in some market-attractive areas the rules were especially constraining and in some cases represented a down-zoning from existing plans.
Howls of protest to high-rise towers and intensification in “market-attractive” areas like the beach suburbs on the North Shore and eastern suburbs and Pakuranga/Howick led the original density and height proposals being reduced in the final draft of the Unitary Plan.
Note: High rise towers are technically contained to the City Centre, nine of the ten Metropolitan Centres, and Pakuranga Town Centre.
The above quote from the Minister I find a bit rich. The Minister should have been more hands on and involved like her Minister of Planning counterparts in the Australian States (check NSW, QLD and VIC with their Ministers of Planning working hands on with the respective local authorities in developing their versions of Unitary Plans) and stood with our Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Auckland Development Committee (formally Auckland Plan Committee) Penny Hulse in having the NIMBY’s back down and getting those liberalised controls into the Unitary Plan. However, we ended up with the opposite in August with the NIMBY’s strong arming the Committee into putting in these arcane controls the Minister now so despises. Arcane controls that will drive housing unaffordability even further up
And if you want irony the bulk of the NIMBY attacks came from core National support areas on the North Shore and eastern suburbs of Auckland… That said Councillor Mike of the left-wing was no particular better either.
Finally from the Herald
Unless the development controls and zoning were adjusted, Ms Adams said the percentage of new housing in greenfield areas may need to be increased from the current maximum of 40 per cent to 60 per cent to 70 per cent.
“The Auckland Council has to make hard decisions to meet the long-term planning needs of the entire Auckland region,” Ms Adams said.
The draft plan is being considered by an independent hearings panel chaired by Environment Court Judge David Kirkpatrick. Ms Adams’ submission is one of 9400 submissions released this week on the council website.
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The Council indeed is going to need to make some hard and bitter decisions towards our long-term needs via the Unitary Plan. But the Minister could develop a bit of a backbone and (as I said earlier) be more hands on like her Australian counterparts and work with the Council in getting through a Unitary Plan that promotes a 21st Century Auckland. That backbone can start with by telling the NIMBY’s who are mostly National supporters to climb down and be more constructive in progressing Auckland forward as we are not some snowglobe piece stuck in a Museum.
Otherwise we do face the real threat of Greenfield expansion going well over the 40% limit set in the Auckland Plan and hitting the higher marks the Minister has indicated. Something I don’t particularly want for my daughter as she grows up.
Lets hope the Independent Hearing Panel take into account the Minister’s submission and others on similar grounds with liberalising those development controls if we want a more affordable and more people friendly 21st Century Auckland.
Update: Another overview of the Minister’s submission can be found here: Governments view on the Unitary Plan. It is noted that Transport Blog also had the same concerns over the Minister being a bit late to the party:
My question though is why the government didn’t say anything about this sooner. Further why were government MP’s scaremongering about intensification during the UP debates and pushing people to oppose the plan. MP’s like Maggie Barry were rallying against the plan which assisted in the public opposition from places like the North Shore that led to the down zoning of the plan.
The Minister for the Environment’s Submission to the Unitary Plan
Talking Southern Auckland 