‘Bureaucratic debacle’: Auckland councillor’s last ditch effort to halt PC 120
Monday, 20 July 2026
The bitter battle over intensification in Auckland continues with a councillor having lobbed a grenade on the eve of critical vote by calling for a halt to zoning plans in light of the government’s overhaul of the Resource Management Act.
On Tuesday, councillors are expected to vote on the final shape of the government-mandated Plan Change 120.
A preferred “scenario” backed by council staff, the mayor’s office and planning committee chair Richard Hills would see 1.7 million new homes zoned for the supercity.
It follows a highly politicised process in which RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop first imposed a requirement for 2m homes before watering that down to 1.4m.
In the latest iteration of the plan, which has followed feedback from Auckland’s local boards and iwi, intensification would be focussed around city centre train stations, town centres and significant bus routes.
Read more:
As a result of feedback, smaller “local centres” such as Blockhouse Bay, Flat Bush, Mairangi Bay and Clendon have been removed.
Blanket upzoning across the central suburbs has also been withdrawn, with 85% of the city’s suburban homes set to retain their current zoning.
The plan instead goes beyond the government’s legislated minimum for train stations - zoning for 15-storey apartments along the eastern and southern lines in addition to the required western line stations.
About 5500 special character homes will lose their protected status under the plan, much of them in Mt Eden.
However on the eve of the vote, Waitematā councillor Mike Lee has submitted an amendment calling for “a pause” on the process until the Government unveils new requirements under its proposed new planning rules.
He told The Post it was “a last ditch effort to get Auckland Council to stand up to the Government and call time out on what is increasingly a bureaucratic debacle”.
The new Planning Bill was reported back from the Environment Committee on Monday, with RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop saying it would include “national instruments setting direction from the top”.
Bishop said it was expected to take an extended “39 months” to implement.
Lee’s amendment would see Auckland Council request the minister for a similar extension to its plan change process.
However, planning chairperson Hills told a media conference on Monday that delaying any further would put the council “at risk”.
“We’ve been five years in this washing machine, and I think people just need certainty,” he said.
“I think delaying just leaves that all up in the air, and kicking the can down the road risks a Plan Change 120 with a two million capacity staying in place.
“The government have got a month or two of writing legislation before an election and they’re not going to do a third legislation change for us again, in my opinion.”
A third option has also been put on the table for vote via an amendment from North Shore councillor John Gillon.
He has proposed the council instead adopt a scenario that would see upzoning match the legislated minimums - of around 1.4m to 1.6m new homes.
Once councillors settle on a final version of the plan change, it is expected to again go out for public consultation at the end of August.
An independent panel will then hold public hearings later in 2026, with the plan anticipated to be operative by later 2027 - depending on whether it is appealed in court.