Housing Minister urges Auckland Council to cut number of character areas

Friday, 3 June 2022

A law change will allow landowners in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch to build up to three storeys without resource consent. (Video first published in October 2021)

Housing Minister Megan Woods has urged Auckland Council to reduce the number of sites it is trying to retain as character areas, saying current proposals restrict development in swathes of the city that are best suited for intensification.

The council released maps showing character areas in mid-April, and Woods said she would be concerned if restrictions on sites with “no, low or moderate character” were retained, even if they were near areas with high character sites.

”This blanket approach to protections does not appear to be consistent with the NPS-UD (National Policy Statement on Urban Development) clause that allows restrictions,” Woods said.

When asked whether there were indicators of Nimbyism or preferential treatment of affluent areas in the council's decision-making, Woods said it was difficult to assess with final plans yet to be released.

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The council’s interactive map shows areas upzoned to medium density in light orange and areas upzoned to allow for apartments in dark orange

“However, a range of evidence – including the cost benefit analyses for the NPS-UD and Medium Density Residential Standards that were prepared for government – has shown that restrictions on development in highly desirable areas benefit the current owners of property at the expense of new home buyers and renters,” she said.

The National Policy Statement directs the country’s five largest cities to drop rules that restrict housing developments, and requires councils to undertake a site-by-site analysis when applying character protections.

Councils are not prevented from having special character protections, but under the policy statement the level of justification required is greater than before.

”Under this framework, we would expect a very high bar to restricting development in some of the areas where special character areas are proposed to be maintained,” Woods said.

Woods noted there were currently 21,000 residential sites with special character controls in the Auckland Unitary Plan, and the council was planning to retain restrictions on around 16,000, primarily in the affluent suburbs of Ponsonby, Parnell, Mt Eden, Devonport, eastern part of Grey Lynn, and parts of Remuera and Epsom.

More affluent suburbs like Grey Lynn have often been classed as character areas in the council’s current plan.

Council responds

An Auckland Council spokeswoman said the local authority was working within the framework of the National Policy Statement, which allowed it to propose exemptions to intensification requirements, and the council “has a specific role in land use planning and consenting developments”.

She said the council had completed a region-wide review of special character areas at a site-specific level to assess where there was special character value.

“Where character values have not been retained overtime, we’ve proposed removing special character protections,” the spokeswoman said.

“Following this review, we’ve proposed a balance between the requirements to enable more building height and density and protecting the things many Aucklanders value.”

The spokeswoman said there was a long way to go before final changes were decided, and over the coming weeks staff would be working through options to put to elected members for approval.

Aucklanders to have another say

A final plan change is due by August 20, when the council will also have to provide justification for its decisions.

The council spokeswoman said council would notify the public of proposed plan changes by the deadline, which would give residents another opportunity to have a say.

The spokeswoman said the Unitary Plan had created capacity for more than 900,000 homes in existing residential areas over 30 years, and consents for new homes were at record levels, with around 20,000 in the last year, of which around two-thirds were for higher-density housing, such as apartments and terraced housing.

“In response to the NPS-UD, the vast majority of land in central Auckland within walking distances to public transport and urban centres is not within proposed special character areas, allowing for significantly more capacity for new homes in those places,” she said.

Woods is not the first minister to criticise Auckland Councils approach, with Environment Minister David Parker saying it needs to stop trying to protect entire suburbs and focus only on specific heritage buildings.

“I strongly encourage the council to consider very carefully the benefits of enabling as much development as possible in areas that are close to jobs, services and public transport,” Minister Woods said.

“Evidence shows that restricting development in these sorts of areas has negative environmental, economic and social impacts.”