Bob Dey continues the Unitary Plan hearings coverage
Bob Dey continues his Unitary Plan coverage on the Unitary Plan hearings and where thing left off last month (Regional Policy Statement – Urban Growth) before the Christmas break begain.
You can see the introductory summary I drew up from Bob’s yesterday’s postings here: SUMMARY OF AUCKLAND GROWTH AND THE UNITARY PLAN HEARINGS HEADING INTO 2015
Today Bob covered two topics:
- Can Auckland fit in an extra million people via some 400,000 new dwellings primarily within the Rural Urban Boundary as set by the Unitary Plan (to go live 2016)?
- Council amendments that would alter the rules, alter the amount of land being available to development over a certain time period, and pretty much saying village developments outside of the RUB are a no-no!
Part One
UP4: Fairgray doesn’t fix on the far horizon, but says million new Aucklanders will fit in
Can we fit all these new Aucklanders in? One critic of the economist Auckland Council hired to analyse its growth capacity recommendations, Doug Fairgray, called him myopic, and several representing major organisations said the council model he was working with was never going to produce the desired answer: room to house a million more people over 30 years, 70% of them inside the urban boundary of 4 years ago.
The session on urban growth on 15 December drew representatives from some major land interests, the Minister for the Environment & the Property Council, some supportive of the compact city concept but most also questioning how the proposed rural:urban boundary & revised zoning inside it could possibly enable the 400,000 homes for a million more residents to be built.
The one who called Dr Fairgray myopic for focusing on growth to 2026 rather than all the way to 2041, Fraser Colegrave, had never heard anybody talk of the unitary plan having such a short timeframe – 13 years.
In fact, there’s been barely a mention of what happens to the plan once it’s approved, scheduled for late 2016. But, like other district & regional plans (and this one is a combination of the 2), it will be up for a new iteration, probably 10 years after first approval. So, 2026.
Dr Fairgray said in his evidence: “Much of my assessment accordingly focuses on the 2026 outcomes in the medium growth future, because that is the most likely future situation which the proposed unitary plan needs to address. …. The plan rules have been designed to enable at least the first 10 years of growth, and there will be changes in the plan provisions over time – as the regular monitoring of outcomes will result in responses to growth & change – and these will inevitably alter the scale, timing & location of capacity. While it is very important that the longer-term outlook (to 2040) is considered, any direct comparison of current provisions & enabled capacity against the longer-term outcomes should be treated with caution.”
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Source and full post: http://www.propbd.co.nz/fairgray-doesnt-fix-far-horizon-says-million-new-aucklanders-will-fit/
In short two things:
- Yes we can fit that extra million in
- Some issues around the Version 1 of the live Unitary Plan only going from 2016-2026 before Version 2 is written and under-way from 2026. I believe most district and regional plans are 10 years long and updated that often in the first place.
Part Two
UP5: Rule changes would shorten land supply and discourage new villages
A number of council recommendations on urban growth have already been changed following mediation. These include a minimum 5 years’ supply of land zoned for development (well short of the supply certainty developers want) and stipulations for new villages (not banned, but discouraged).
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You can read the full list of amendments Council is chasing after here: http://www.propbd.co.nz/rule-changes-shorten-land-supply-discourage-new-villages/
I wonder if the Council realises the rising important of villages outside the Rural Urban Boundary especially those that might flank a State Highway or the rail line. I say that as those villages as well as those in the northern Waikato might be fast stepping up to take some pressures both residential and industrial wise off existing Metropolitan Auckland. In short is Council being short-sighted and hamstringing itself with these amendments?
More tomorrow including a quick recap on my own submission to the Unitary Plan
Talking Southern Auckland 