1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560 Speaker 1: Hard to overstate, as have tried to just before the news, 2 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: the sort of angst in Auckland at the moment over 3 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: this new intensification plan or draft plan or whatever you 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: want to call it. Without boring the rest of the country. 5 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 1: The Housing Minister wants the potential for two million more homes. 6 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: People may not want to vote in the local body elections, 7 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: but you don't want to mess with their backyard. Boy, 8 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: you get them exercise. Then local MP David Seymour plans 9 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: to lobby the council around an adequate infrastructure and poor 10 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,479 Speaker 1: developments and he's with us. Very good morning to you. 11 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 2: Good morning mate, So do you speak to. 12 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: Us this morning in your capacity as actively the Deputy 13 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: Prime Minister or MP for EPSOM. 14 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 2: Primarily is MP for EPSOM, and that capacity, my job 15 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 2: is to ensure that the residents I represent in EPSOM, 16 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 2: Mount Eden, Newmarket, Parnell and Remuera suburbs have their interests 17 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,959 Speaker 2: advocated for within the political process under the law, so 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 2: that everyone understands what's going on and that their views 19 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 2: are heard. And that's simply a job that I see 20 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 2: as my first and most important because while I represent 21 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 2: a lot of people on behalf of acts. And while 22 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 2: I honored to have some jobs in the governments of 23 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 2: New Zealand, it's the people in the EPSOM electorate who 24 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 2: gave me the ticket to attend. 25 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: What would your assessment of the level of Bankston Auckland 26 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: be And other Auckland MPs as active on this as you. 27 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 2: Are, I'm aware that other Auckland MP's are getting feedback, 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 2: in some cases voluminous feedback on this issue. Frankly, I 29 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 2: don't believe it's as strong as it could be because 30 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 2: of the way that the Auckland Council has behaved. In 31 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 2: order to find the maps of how the zoning will change, 32 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 2: whether your neighborhood will be zoned for up to fifty 33 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 2: meter towers or just have its zoning changed from one 34 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 2: existing Auckland zone to another. In order to find those maps, 35 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 2: you actually have to go into the section of the 36 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 2: Auckland Council website where they keep the minutes of the meetings. 37 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 2: Then you've got to go to these ual Planning Committees minutes. 38 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 2: Then you've got to plow through that to download these images. 39 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 2: Now I talk to people at the Herald who say 40 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 2: that the most read story on their page last week 41 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 2: was about this topic. But if you go to the 42 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 2: Auckland Council website, the thing that people are most interested 43 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 2: in as one of the most hidden things. So I 44 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 2: suspect interesting as people get more information, they will take 45 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 2: an interest in it. My challenge to Auckland Council is 46 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 2: rate payers paid for these maps. You've been preparing them 47 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 2: since April and then you release them after Parliament voted 48 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 2: on the legislation which you clearly knew was coming, but 49 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 2: chose to prepare a plan that you used for your 50 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 2: purposes but not to inform public debate about. And I 51 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 2: think that is Shane fall. They should put it on 52 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 2: the front page of the website this morning. 53 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 1: Which is the really interesting thing for a person like 54 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: me is trying to sort of wait and stand in 55 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: the middle of all of this is this is the 56 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: interpace between local government and central government. It is central 57 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: government who wants it. It's Chris Bishop who's pushed for this, 58 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: and local government doesn't necessarily want this particular way. But 59 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: they didn't want three houses of three stories on a 60 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: six hundred square meet property and never the twain shall 61 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: meet in That is the angst, isn't it? 62 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 2: Well? That's right. I mean not to go through all 63 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 2: the history, and I'm conscious that there are non Auckland 64 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 2: listeners on the shows. I apologize to them. But look, basically, 65 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 2: you know, the Medium Density Residential Standard was a deal 66 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 2: between the Labor government of the day and supported by 67 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 2: the National Party in opposition that would have said you 68 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 2: can build three three story houses basically every section in Auckland. 69 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 2: I oppose that from the get go. I think that 70 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 2: was mad. For example, we saw shortly after that agreement 71 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 2: flooding and real damage and destruction across Auckland. All of 72 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 2: those places and floodplains were deemed to have three three 73 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 2: story houses on them. So we've defeated the MDRS. I'm 74 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 2: pleased we've done that. The government has made a massive 75 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 2: improvement on it. However, the plan that has been produced 76 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,640 Speaker 2: by Auckland counts, as Chris Bishop noted in his column 77 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: this morning, that requires almost no greenfield development, all intensification. 78 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,839 Speaker 2: It requires half of Parnell to have fifty meter buildings. Now, 79 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 2: I just make the point that you know to only 80 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 2: two years ago that we had a building fall into 81 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 2: a sinkhole because a one hundred and twenty year old 82 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 2: brick sewer underneath Parnell imploded and everything fell down into it, 83 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 2: and we had two years of fixing that up. So 84 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 2: the idea you're going to intensify that rate there doesn't 85 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 2: make sense. So we've got an improvement, but now we've 86 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 2: got an obligation I think to make sure that we 87 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 2: really go through this from an Auckland perspective and make 88 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 2: sure that the plan actually makes sense. And in that 89 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 2: Chris Bishop has the ultimate say. And I'm also rarely 90 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 2: determined that someone I consider a very good friend and 91 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: a very impressive politician doesn't get demonized for his role 92 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 2: as some people are trying to do in Or and 93 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 2: that would be wrong. And I actually agree with Chris 94 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 2: about one other thing. If we want this country to work, 95 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 2: then the next generation must believe that if you do 96 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 2: all the right stuff, listen to your teacher, study, grow up, 97 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 2: get a job, save your money carefully, then you will 98 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 2: have a place of your own. As soon as you 99 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 2: take away the ladders of opportunity to a property owning democracy, 100 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 2: you get a generation who doesn't believe in that concept, 101 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 2: and you have big trouble. So we do need to 102 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 2: make it easier to build a home. But what we 103 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 2: absolutely cannot do is dis locate planning and infrastructure provision, 104 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 2: which will lead to a total disaster. So it's a 105 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 2: bit of water to go into this bridge, but I 106 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 2: believe we'll get to a better place. 107 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: Well, I hope you're right. Nice to talk to you, 108 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: appreciate it. David Syamall, let's call him the MP for EPSOM. 109 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: On that particular one I think we mentioned a week ago, 110 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: the boss went along to his first ever public meeting 111 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: in a big church hall. In the church hall was 112 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: because he suddenly he bought his house and he's looking 113 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: next door and he sees the plan and the plan 114 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: has got the multi story building next door, and he 115 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: suddenly freaks out. And this is how this whole thing goes. 116 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: So he goes along to the public meeting system and 117 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 1: his life place is packed. So there's David's right. This's 118 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: more where that came from. For more from the Mic 119 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: Asking Breakfast, listen live to news Talks it'd be from 120 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.