This page covers:

• Council Proposal – Plan Change 78
  • Update 15 Jan 2023
  • Update 11 Jan 2023
  • Update December 2022
• Kainga Ora Submission

January 2024: Further updates regarding this ongoing proposal can be found on the News page.

Council Proposal – Plan Change 78

15 Jan 2023 update
To re-cap – Council has proposed increasing intensification throughout much of Auckland, as required by the government. However it excluded much of Mt Eden, Sandringham, Balmoral and Mt Roskill, as they are part of the wider Light Rail study area. These were to be considered later.

However many submitters have requested that the LR area be included, and also proposed much greater intensification eg heights / and greater areas with full THAB, terrace and apartment zoning to apply – both outside the LR and within it.
These submissions are outside the scope of the plan change, and Council should disallow them. But we need to submit to force this issue.
In our view, if submitters such as Kainga Ora thought Council was wrong to exclude the Light Rail area, then they should have sort a judicial review to have that corrected, prior to the plan change being notified.
If they were correct then Council would have had to make all the decisions related to this area, and all people would have received this information, with supporting analysis at the time of the plan change. It is not appropriate now to try and have an element outside of the proposed plan change be brought back in, thus denying the thousands of people living in the areas to have a proper say.
Many also disagree with heritage character being a “Qualifying Matter”, which allows Council to retain the existing low density zone (single dwelling), where heritage character is appropriately protected as a qualifying matter.
There are submissions supporting the heritage character, which you can support now as well.
We believe it will be important to get as many submissions as possible, so that our issues are taken seriously, and hopefully help drive the type of city you want to live in.

Submitting
This can be done online, and the copy email can be sent to the submitter as required.
The type/content of the submission:

Firstly you can oppose submissions which want to bring the LR area into the plan change. This is the top priority! These submissions are out of the scope of the plan change, which means people were not aware this could happen and therefore did not submit earlier on their wishes. So if Council considers these, it has not given the owner/occupiers within the LR area a proper process in which to review plans/studies and reasons and to partake in the process properly ie a breach of natural justice.

Opposing the LR submissions is easy in that all that needs to be recorded is that you own or occupy a property within the area, and oppose as the submission it is out of the scope of the plan change, and you and your neighbours have been denied a proper process if these are now been included. Especially as the submission period has been over the Xmas holiday period, and many will be unaware of the submitters proposals.

The second type of submission is where you support a submission eg a general support for say, heritage character protection eg the Character Coalition, or the simple EPNA one. The basis of the “interest greater than the general public” is that you currently own/occupy a property which is likely to be included as a qualifying matter in a future plan change for this area.

Hopefully the hearing will support the Character Coalition experts and retain the heritage character protections for Auckland. If they do, then later we would hope they would be applied here as well, in the later plan change for the LR area. So supportive submissions for heritage will be very helpful, and show the wider support.

There are also other submissions increasing the walkability distances, which will increase the high density zone areas if walkability larger, and also, as with Kainga Ora submissions to increase allowable heights substantially. You may like to submit on those as well.
You can delve further from that list, and also use the Council decision spreadsheet to look for others that may interest you – eg using a street word search or Light rail, walkability etc. We’ll only have a small sample on the next email.

On the link below – two-thirds down the page is the summary of requested decisions – excel and a pdf. These can be downloaded, and word searched eg for your road, and you will find those submitting – usually for up-zoning. Some don’t mention specific roads, so a search of Light Rail will find where Council has noted the submission is for the excluded LR area.
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/details.aspx?UnitaryPlanId=140

There is a further search tool, to find and download the specific submission:
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/search-submissions-plan-change-78-intensification-housing.aspx
Here you select plan change 78 and then the submission number or name – and you will be able to download a PDF of the submission.

We also suggest that you visit the Character Coalition website for updates as well.
https://charactercoalition.org.nz
It would also help to donate to them to help fund their experts. They will be putting up the best case for heritage.
You can donate to them here:
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/auckland-deserves-better

Update 11 Jan 2023
Further submissions on Council’s Plan Change 78 for intensification have opened, and can be done online, at the link below. This is where people can submit against or in support of any of the first round of submissions – especially where they will impact on your property.
They can be done now, and close on 20th January.
Council has a list of requested changes, and these can be reviewed in deciding to oppose or support the relief sort (see link below).

The first round has created some serious issues for the Mt Eden, Sandringham and Balmoral areas. These areas aren’t in the plan change – as Council excluded them as being part of the Light Rail corridor area – with a variation to come for that next year once the route is decided.
However numerous submitters have requested the greater intensification also be applied to these areas now. These submitters include major government funded organisations such as Kainga Ora, and other groups such as the property council, and many developers.
In our view these submissions are out of the scope, and the panel should not consider them, as there was no opportunity for the local property owners and communities to submit originally, as the area was clearly not in the proposed plan change.

While the panel may well rule these up zoning submissions out, we strongly recommend people submit to directly oppose them. Otherwise, if the panel decided to consider them, there would be no opportunity for local people impacted to be heard. A large number of submissions highlighting the area was not in the plan change also substantially raises the out of scope issue.

On the page linked below is a link to complete an online further submission (at top).
Two-thirds down the page is the summary of requested decisions – excel and a pdf. These can be downloaded, and word searched eg for your road, and you will find those submitting – usually for up-zoning. Some don’t mention specific roads, so a search of Light Rail will find where Council has noted the submission is for the excluded LR area.
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/details.aspx?UnitaryPlanId=140

There is a further search tool, to find and download the specific submission:
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/search-submissions-plan-change-78-intensification-housing.aspx
Here you select plan change 78 and then the submission number or name – and you will be able to download a PDF of the submission.

Almost all the submissions wanting our areas to now be included are professionally prepared and very planning/legal in wording. They include broad requests around up zoning (eg 6 storey or more) to the whole area, along with more technical issues around height controls etc.
While you can submit at that level of detail, you can also just settle on the high level fact that any submission targeting the Light Rail excluded area is out of scope and not to be considered.
There are also submissions which target parts of our area for higher than 6 storey – both residential and business zones. Kainga Ora for example wants heights of 7 and 9 storey through large parts of the area. Again these should be out of scope of the plan change, but need to be addressed.

In the next few days we’ll try and get a sample and details of submissions you can oppose, to make the process easier. If we have time we’ll try to update our website with details, and/or email example maps etc.
Again it will be crucial to have a say, and to also encourage others to submit themselves.
The character coalition is also a good source of information:
https://charactercoalition.org.nz/

Update December 2022
Council’s Intensification Plan Change 78
Council has had to propose a Plan Change to intensify large parts of Auckland, and to increase the level of intensification allowed – both density and heights, due to a government requirement.
The notified plan change last year excluded the Light Rail study area (large parts of Mt Eden, Sandringham, Balmoral and Mt Roskill), which would be re-zoned later.
However, many submitters have requested both that this area be included, but also that it have much higher intensification via major apartment areas, with many up to 9 storey.
These submitters include major government funded organisations such as Kainga Ora, and other groups such as the property council, and many developers.
Some also propose no heritage protection for the area. They propose this across the whole area, and not just limited to arterial roads as the Unitary Plan tended to do. This opens up the chance for 6-9 storey apartments appearing anywhere within the Sandringham Rd to Dominion Rd block, and further up towards Mt Eden Rd.

There is now a second round of submissions where people can submit and oppose or support these submissions. The deadline for further submissions is 20th January. This can be done online.
We will provide an update closer to the close of submissions with help to make submissions.
It will be very important that these submissions are opposed – partly because they are out of the scope of the original plan change – which has limited meaningful consultation.
Prior to our next update, you can investigate the submissions and decisions requested that may affect your property and the general area.
On the page linked below is a link to complete an online further submission (at top).
Two-thirds down the page is the summary of requested decisions – excel and a pdf. These can be downloaded, and word searched eg for your road, and you will find those submitting – usually for up-zoning. Some don’t mention specific roads, so a search of Light Rail will find where Council has noted the submission is for the excluded LR area.
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/details.aspx?UnitaryPlanId=140

There is a further search tool, to find and download the specific submission:
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/search-submissions-plan-change-78-intensification-housing.aspx
Here you select plan change 78 and then the submission number or name – and you will be able to download a PDF of the submission.

Kainga Ora Submission

Below is some information on the major Kainga Ora submission (very well resourced via our taxes!).
Their submission is 873, and all of it, including maps (Maps 71 and 80 are for this area – in files 11 and 12 of 19) can be downloaded here:
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/plans-projects-policies-reports-bylaws/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/Pages/search-submissions-plan-change-78-intensification-housing.aspx
For example.
Decision requested number 195 below asks for Mount Eden to all be up zoned from Low Density residential or mixed housing to all be the Terrace Housing and Apartment Building Zone (THAB) – the highest residential. Below are just some local streets highlight for the new 6+ storey zone.

But they have gone further.
Submission point 196:
Insert Height Variation Controls of 22m, 29m, 37m and 43m for various business zones in Grey Lynn, Ponsonby, Freemans Bay, Eden Terrace, Newton, Kingsland, Mount Eden, Grafton, and Newmarket. Refer to Appendix 2, Map 071
And 197:
Insert Height Variation Controls of 29m, 37m and 43m for various residential zones in parts of Grey Lynn, Ponsonby, Freemans Bay, Eden Terrace, Kingsland, Mount Eden, Grafton, Epsom, and Newmarket. Refer to Appendix 2 Map 071
196 above impacts the various arterial business areas, including the local centres like Burnley and Royal Terrace shops.
For 197, the proposed height impacts can be seen in the maps below – remembering that the current THAB height is 16m (5 storey) – current plan change to meet government requirement is 21m (6 storey).

So, our reading is that below shows all THAB zone within blocks of the brown lines means a height of 37m (9 storey) and green being 29m (7 storey)

Below, is the wider map, also showing brown outlined 9 Storey blocks, along View Rd, Bellevue, down to Valley Rd.

Above we see green 7 storey along and off Sandringham Rd – including both business and residential.
And above we see parts of Marlborough/Cromwell having 9 storey along with large parts of Valley Rd. The rest of the area would be the new 6 storey heights.

Also the 9 storey is likely to be based on “walkability” distance to bus stops/train station – but there are other submissions wanting to extend that distance substantially. So the higher height area could conceivably extend further.
Please take the opportunity to make sure neighbours and friends are aware of the planning changes that could occur, if those such as above are ruled as in scope.