WEBVTT - How new zoning plans could change Auckland forever 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.760 Cure. I'm Richard Martin in for Chelsea Daniels and this 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.600 is the Front Page Daily Podcast presented by The New 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:18.000 Zealand Herald. Auckland is under pressure to make space for 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.640 two million homes and counselors have little choice in the matter. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.880 On September twenty fourth, the city's Policy and Planning Committee 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.680 will decide whether to press ahead with the existing Plan 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.400 Change seventy eight, which allows three story housing across most 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.560 of the city, or back a new plan that concentrates 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.520 apartment blocks up to fifteen stories around key transport hubs. 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.360 Both options have sparked heated debate, from fears of flooding 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.560 and towers overshadowing suburban homes to arguments that the city 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:51.800 desperately needs more density to tackle the housing crisis. Minister 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.520 for Arima Reform, Chris Bishop, has made it clear that 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.760 Auckland must provide for growth while promising locals a stronger 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.640 voice in how it plays out. So what's really at 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.520 stake for Auckland is and how much power does the 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.800 council actually have Today? On the front page, New Zealand 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.280 Herald's senior reporter Simon Wilson joins us to break down 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:19.240 the battle over Auckland's housing future. All right, So first off, 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:24.000 simon what exactly are these designing changes that have been proposed. 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:27.840 At the moment. Auckland Council has a plan in place 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:32.399 that says that it will create the capacity for two 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:35.640 million homes in the city over the coming decades. This 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.480 is a requirement of the previous government and has been 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:43.319 in place with the existing government until now. The existing government, however, 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:48.120 told Auckland Council that it could get out of that 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.640 option if it produced a new plan that's still allowed 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:58.520 for two million homes but didn't have the instruction that 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.960 was there in the labor plan. That or pretty much 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.200 all property could be subdivided and pretty much all property, 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:09.480 even subdivided could go up to three stories. So the 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.920 Auckland Council has produced a new draft plan change that 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.079 proposes there will be the capacity for those for all 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:19.799 those homes. It doesn't mean that it'll be built, but 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:25.040 it's a capacity. But it focuses the development around train stations, 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:30.239 along arterial roads and in town centers, places where there 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.720 is already the infrastructure for denser development, and at the 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.240 same time has recognized because the government has instructed it 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.840 to keep the two minion capacity. It's recognized that it 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.280 has to also allow more density in various other parts 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:48.840 of the city. So some of the suburbs and some 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:53.320 parts of some of the suburbs will have a denser 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.800 capacity than is currently the case. 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.280 And so you mentioned the Labor government putting thing a place. 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:03.079 That's the Plan Changed seventy eight. It's cored this controversial 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:09.240 sort of directive. Parts of that have been progressed, but 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:11.120 why is the government looking to replace that? 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:15.799 So Plan Change seventy eight is based on something called 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:21.800 the MDRS, the medium Density Residential standards. These were originally 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.679 introduced by Labor and National under the Labor government. It 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.679 was a coalition deal that they would both support them, 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.720 and the idea there was that it took the very 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.120 contentious housing issue away from partisan politics because both sides 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.960 agreed and recognized that long term development of the city 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.640 was required and we weren't going to get it if 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:45.920 it became too much a question of party squabbling. So 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.440 that was the plan, but National reneeded on that deal 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:53.240 before the last election. So the MDRS was what said 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.040 that basically everything can go up to three stories anywhere 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:58.160 and there's a lot of opposition to that. The new 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.480 plan change proposal comes in and under the government saying okay, 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.400 you can, you can be more flexible about it. You 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.800 can do more density where it's a good idea to 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.839 do it, and not have as much density where it's 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:11.680 more problematic. 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.559 Yeah, because this talk of like obviously the Hawkland floods 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.280 might be a contributing fact. There's been sort of discussion 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:23.279 that it's addressing zoning issues and those high risk areas. 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.160 How much of that actually is that. 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.960 Is an important part of it. Under the MDRS and 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:36.400 Plan Chained seventy eight, the rules were that you couldn't 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:42.120 downsize the capacity of sections. So where after the Anniversary 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.680 weekend floods and cyclone Gabriel at the beginning of twenty 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.960 twenty three, Auckland Council recognized really clearly that it had 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.359 a whole range of area parts of the city where 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.160 they were at risk of flooding or coastal erosion and 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.640 it was not a good idea to allow more housing 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.360 in those places. In fact, the reverse that to it. Okay, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.159 regulations prevented the dune zoning of those areas. So the 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.560 new plan allows for that so they have established a 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.120 whole range of areas, but eighty percent of them are 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.160 on the coast. Auckland has an enormous coastline because it's 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:19.080 two coastlines, and the rest are flood areas that are 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.680 liable to flood. In the Wairau Valley, some parts of 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:27.400 Henderson and West Auckland margery places that were it is 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.360 simply not appropriate to build. 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:33.040 Aside from just abstaining from the vote, there are two 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.719 options at place well. 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:39.760 The proposal in front of council that they will vote 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:43.800 on next week is to adopt the new plan change. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.640 The legal language is that they will notify it. It 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.000 doesn't mean that it becomes the law. It means that 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.240 it then becomes open to public consultation and there is 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.880 a lengthy process for that. If they don't notify the 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:01.880 new plan change, then Plan Change seventy eight, the existing one, 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:06.400 which creates the three x three housing density situation, that 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.520 will remain in place. So it's a yes no on 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.479 the new one. But the choice they have counselors are 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.680 facing between those two options, both of which allow the 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:20.760 capacity of two million homes. 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.600 I thought, like Chris Bishop said that you know, promising 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.440 to allow Aucklanders to have their saying that what is 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:29.240 that process? 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:33.719 Okay, So Bishop has announced just this week what the 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.720 consultation process will be. It was always assumed there would 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.760 be one, but it was unclear exactly what it would be. 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.440 And so what Bishop has made clear now is that 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:47.599 from early November until just before Christmas there will be 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:52.280 an open public consultation process. Now early November is significant 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.440 because that is the time when the new council, because 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.120 we've got council elections underway and that's the time when 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.760 the new council will take office. They will be in 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.000 charge of that consultation. It won't be something happening in 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.640 the middle of the election campaign and that's a good 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:12.200 thing for everybody. And then that something like six seven 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.520 week period of public consultation will be followed next year 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:22.360 by an independent hearings panel being established. These are experts 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.800 in the field and they will hear submissions from They 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.280 will hear the submissions and consider the submissions of everybody 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.000 who wants to front before them who's submitted in that 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:37.120 public consultation process. At the end of this year, and 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:41.320 that whole process, the Minister says, will probably taken around 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.640 eighteen months, so there is a very there's a good 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.200 period of time for the public to have their say 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:51.360 formally as part of the process, and then there is 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.440 a lengthy period of the panel considering that and hearing 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:59.000 from that and deciding what to recommend. It is a 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.000 standard process, but it is the Minister's now made it 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.320 very clear that they're not going to convent that in 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:05.800 any way. It will be done properly. 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:11.280 As someone who's never engaged in a public forum like that, like, 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:15.480 how do those exactly work, that feedback process and how 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.120 likely is it to actually change it? 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:19.880 So there will be a whole range of public submissions 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:23.280 and it will be as simple as you will, I imagine, 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:25.440 going on previous experience, you'll be able to go onto 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.720 the council website and fill in a form or send 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.920 them a one sentence note saying I object to this 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:33.760 or I love this. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:35.640 Through too. 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:38.680 There will be groups that get lawyers involved and do 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.720 very considered submissions. There will be groups who get planners 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:46.000 and other experts involved and make their submissions on the 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.560 basis of that, they spend some money, and then the 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:54.200 Independent Hearings Panel their job is to filter all that 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.880 and assess it and the fact that you, as a 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.040 member of the public, have done your It costs me nothing, 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.120 but I have a heartfelt opinion and I want them 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:05.720 to know about it. Now. They'll recognize that for what 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.439 it is and they'll consider that properly. 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:09.480 Or they're supposed to. 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:12.640 But they will also, of course have a whole lot 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:17.120 of that expert submitted material as well to consider, and 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.360 they'll do a balance and the council will report on 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.200 it too. They'll say, we've had this many submissions from 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.120 the public, We've had this many submissions from lobby groups, 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:29.760 We've had this many submissions from the expert areas. These 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.040 are the opinions that we've had from other parts of 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:35.440 the democratic process, like the local boards and so on. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:37.439 They'll report on all that, so we'll be able to 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:42.160 see all that, and they'll probably quantify it, so we'll 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.760 know roughly the public opinion was sixty forty this way 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:49.000 or that way or whatever it is. They will tell. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:52.439 Us do we have any indication sort of which way 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.160 counsel or general public are leaning between the options? 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.240 Well, there's no single view. If you go to a 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.679 public meeting in mud Eden or remu Era parnell as 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:10.079 I've been doing. You'll hear some very angry locals. If 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:14.480 you go out to Mangaee, which I did last weekend, 0:10:15.520 --> 0:10:17.520 you won't find them talking about it at all. They 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.280 Marngoy is a fascinating suburb because it was built after 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:27.240 the war to house the floods of people migrating to Auckland, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:31.320 particularly Maori from the north. It was built without with 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.720 hardly any proper sewage and water services. It was very 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.080 very basic that all came to a head and was 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.160 very problematic. Margarray in the last ten to fifteen years 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.800 has been very substantially rebuilt. There are a lot of 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.439 apartments and denser housing. They've got good services. They put 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.360 it in underground. It cost money to do it because 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.560 they have to do it underground, and it's quite a 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:59.240 transformed suburb now down there. In this election, they're not 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.000 talking about oh my god, we don't want density. They've 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.200 got it. They like it because it's given them warm, dry, 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:10.440 safe houses to live in and created communities. They're talking 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:14.640 about other issues, you know, like employment. Those sorts of 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:16.599 things very different depending on where you go. If you 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.120 got to fung A Perrara, was there last weekend. Again 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.800 they're talking about the inability of infrastructure to help with 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.720 development up there. And it's different again from what's happening 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.600 in the central city. 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.040 When you go to those suburbs where they are getting 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.439 really fired up about this. What are the concerns that 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:34.079 they're raising. 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.840 I think there's two main areas of concern. One of 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:42.079 them is the minister has said that around the railway 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.520 stations that are close to the central city, which he's 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:47.840 calling the CRL stations, like what used to be Munden 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.720 and now to be known as Mongopho in Kingsland and Morningside, 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.480 those stations will have the capacity to take buildings at 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.400 are fifteen stories tall, and so people are worried about that. 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:05.600 The second concern is not the fifteen stories, but people 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:09.600 living in leafy suburbs, in nice villas with their neighbors 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.120 and villas are worried that a three or a six 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.880 story apartment block might appear on their street or might 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.960 appear right next to them. And so that's it, and 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.839 that's actually fundamentally a separate concern. There are two concerns there. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.640 Most quite possibly many people would say, if we're going 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:30.040 to have growth in the city, people have to live 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:36.200 somewhere and putting dents living around railway stations, particularly because 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.239 the CURL will transform the railway network and double its capacity, 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:42.520 that's a good place to put them. And that's a 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.200 different issue from saying, do we how many apartments do 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:49.160 we want in those leafy suburbs, those villa suburbs. 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.839 If you like, yeah, it's because you know, we're talking 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:56.000 about quite affluent suburbs, and especially you know people outside 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.320 of Auckland as well might be looking at these Champagne problems. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.360 Are these legitimate concerns or are these just like sort 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.160 of not in my backyard. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:08.240 It depends whether you're in one of the streets concerned. 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:13.840 Shane Henderson, who is a counselor out at Tiatatu in 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.480 the Henderson in the Waitaker re Ward there, he argues 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:22.160 very strongly that Tata two is being completely built out 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:26.200 with apartments because those suburbs closer to town, which have 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:30.439 better services, much better services, particularly transport and water, are 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:34.319 refusing to allow development there. So you could say that's nimbiaism. 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.880 It's easy to say the word nimbiaism. Personally, I think 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.080 that's a good example of it. Not in my backyard. 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.520 It's quite literal. But of course people who don't want 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.920 the character of where they live changed to say, it's 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:51.000 not nimbiaism. It's preserving character and heritage, and there are 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.560 values that we need to look after, so you know 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:57.760 that's where they come from. One of the ironies on 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.600 it is that there was a report that I wrote 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:04.280 up over the weekend about where the demand in Auckland 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.560 is for apartment living. The two suburbs or the biggest 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:13.520 demand are Anywhere and Mount Eden, and that is largely 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.800 people who live there now but whose kids have left 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.040 home or they've retired. They want to downsize. They want 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.360 to stay living in their suburb, but they don't want 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:24.800 to stay living in the big family home anymore. They 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:28.200 want somewhere smaller that is still good, so they want apartments. 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:34.680 So while family X living in a really nice house 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.960 and Remuera might not want apartment blocks near them, they're 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.520 neighbors who are retiring do want the apartment block because 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:45.200 they want to live in it. So that's a inside 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:46.360 the suburb engine. 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:56.120 Like we've picked the first five CRL stations, they are 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.280 the most important stations. We just really want to get 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:02.000 it into law. That these stations like Kingsland Morning Side 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.160 for example, you know, we really should be having dense 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.400 apartments around there. They're not going to happen straight away. 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:07.920 It's not like you're gonna wake up tomorrow and find 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.600 a fifteen story building next to Kingsland train station. But 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:13.480 over the next few years you will see more buildings 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.240 like that in these key stations. We've come over the 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.680 top with CRL and actually the men supports that. There 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:21.080 people sort of saying, well, I'm sort of forcing them 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.080 to do it, and in some senses I am in 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:25.560 the sense that we're legislating for it. But the Mayor 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:27.520 and I've had a lot of discussions around it, and 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:29.800 he's actually on the press release we issued yesterday around it. 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:31.680 So there's a lot of support from Mayor Brown and 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.240 many councilors and awkward for it. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.560 In terms of the ones around the Transport hubse we 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:43.920 talked about the fifteen story potentially apartment blocks. Chris Bishop 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:45.880 mentioned that, you know, the head calls them the CRL 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.640 sort of things. You know, that's potentially opening soon hopefully, 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:54.120 but is that infrastructure, the transport infrastructure going to be 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.720 able to support that many more people living around those hubs. 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.600 Yes, it is one of the things that people say 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.640 in those suburbs where they don't want the density to happen, 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:08.160 is that infrastructure should happen first. If they don't want 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.280 the density to happen, they probably don't want it at all, 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.440 so they probably don't want the infrastructure either. But actually 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.080 it doesn't work like that. Under the old Auckland Unitary 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.760 Plan passed in twenty sixteen, they said in thirty fifty 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.360 years time, we're going to have the capacity to do 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.480 this much housing. They didn't have all the infrastructure in place, 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.400 they just knew that over those decades it would be developed. 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:34.120 And that is what's happened, certainly with the CRL and 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:38.240 with wastewater also in central Auckland. So the CRL is 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.400 one of the two really big projects that they've been building, 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.479 and the other one is something called the Central Interceptor, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.600 which is a big wastewater pipe that runs right through 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.480 the Isthmus and takes the waste out to Mungery where 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:54.760 the big plants are. And that will revolutionize the capacity 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:59.960 of Isthmus Auckland to manage wastewater, particularly when they're a store. 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.600 It should mean that there is no fecal contamination on 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.159 the beaches any longer. That's a major change. Maline is 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.560 one of the suburbs that will directly benefit from that. 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:14.480 So that infrastructure is there, but in places where it 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.399 more is needed. Partell is a good example. Parnell pipes 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.880 have burst recently, quite famously. There is a plan. Water 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.600 Care has a major plan for the whole city in 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:28.560 fact of when it's going to build the new infrastructure, 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:33.320 and it's all staged according to what they understand the 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.159 demand to be. So that's underway. It's not like the 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:38.359 council's doing nothing. 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.439 It's funny, like we're talking about all these different suburbs 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:44.720 and like it seems that you look at the maps 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:48.119 of the proposed changes and it's like they've just circled 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.840 an entire suburb. Gone, Yeah, the apartments can go here, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.280 the three stories can go here, how much like Nuance 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.720 is normally Yeah, something like that. 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:01.800 So you are right. The government put the council on 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.720 a very strict timetable to get those new maps done. 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:10.280 And some of them are AI generated and there are 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.400 mistakes of them. There are places in those plans where 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.080 you go that's clearly the map makers or AI whoever 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.760 it was or whatever it was, assumed that was a 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.280 bigger wider road than it is. You're just not going 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.720 to be able to carry sustain that many people living 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:29.520 on it. So those things will change the consultation that 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.160 we will see next week when the Council comes back 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.600 to decide on the new plan change, there will be 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.240 revisions to those maps, but there'll be more. The notification 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:43.280 period is one of the reasons for it is it 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:47.000 allows everybody to say you've got it wrong here, and 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.280 for the Council to have a really good, careful look 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.359 at that and to modify the plans accordingly. So there 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:57.000 will be changes that Meghan Tyler, who's the Council's Chief 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:00.840 Planning officer, she says, you know, that's just the normal process. 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:02.919 Of course, we'll do it because that's what we always 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.520 do when we have plan changes. So we can expect 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:07.440 that happening as well. 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.640 So with these maps, though I've read about there are 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.920 overlays which then override what's been that's right. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:18.040 One of the examples of an overlay is flood risk, 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.240 which you might say this suburb is going to be 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.760 zoned for, or this part of the suburb is going 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.560 to be zoned for six story apartments because it's got 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.919 an arteria road running through it. But actually in that 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.080 part of it it's prone to flooding there, so there'll 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.920 be an overlay that protects that from development, and that 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:39.720 is what's called a special character overlay. Another kind of 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:45.280 special character overlay, which is much more valued by many people, 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:49.040 is where the housing is judged to have a particular 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.200 historic value. I suppose it might not be a historic 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.520 it be it might be a subdivision of extremely exciting 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.080 architecturally designed new places that want that are going to 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:03.040 be preserved, But actually that's not how it works in reality. Villas, 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:10.240 bungalows and other historic places where there's a concentration of 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:14.000 historic housing that gets an overlay on it. And the 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.200 best example in Auckland is Devenport. Devenport, apart from navy buildings, 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.159 has no buildings of any height at all. There's an 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.719 overlay over there. No one's been allowed to build anything, 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:26.560 so it's just the old houses. 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.200 And how do these overlays come into it? 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:32.840 So what that means is if you think it a 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:36.320 think of a place like the Mungofold station or the 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.119 Kingston Railway station, there are places near those stations that 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:44.600 are within the walkable areas which have a concentration of 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.520 historic housing, and so there's a ring on the map 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.000 if you like that says okay, in those areas, you're 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.000 not going to have the density requirements that places outside 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:59.160 that ring will be subjected to. There are fewer special 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:03.240 Character areas is preserving historic housing in the new plan 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:06.720 change than there were in Plan Change seventy eight. I 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:12.120 think it's something like fifteen hundred fewer homes. Therefore, there 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:15.919 is concern that the city could lose a number of 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:20.840 those historic homes. When I say historic, I live in 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.240 one of them. Now. I live in a special Character 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.760 area where actually in our street almost all the houses 0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:29.840 are workers cottages. They were built in the nineteenth century. 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:33.520 They're very simple, but over the years people have put 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:37.840 false or new verandas on them in the colonial style. 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.080 My house had the previous owners to us did that. 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:46.760 It looks very pretty, but it's fake, as the verandas 0:21:46.760 --> 0:21:49.080 on most of my neighbours' houses. They are fake too. 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.800 But the council went down that street and went this 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.800 is lovely and called it a special character So that 0:21:56.840 --> 0:22:00.320 limits the development on our street, which is I think 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:04.240 kind of weird. Which is not to say that genuine 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:07.639 villa streets, as there are many in Mount Eden and 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:11.919 Pontsybu Graylin, Devenport, et cetera, not to say that they 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.280 they are the same, they villa streets of villa streets. 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:20.800 Having said that, in Mount Eden, you drive around Mount Eden, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:24.600 you will see a lot of apartment blocks already, which 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:26.720 happened in the seventies, and a lot of what's called 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:30.439 sausage flats, where because the height limit was in place, 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:33.600 developers built just to one or two stories, and there's 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:36.720 a whole lot of apartments in a row back from 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.720 the street, and they're called sausage flats in the sense 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:42.960 that they look like a six pack of sausages there 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:47.880 sitting next to each other, and you won't have any 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:52.280 green space, a very small exactly, whereas if if that 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:55.240 had been built as a sex story apartment block, you 0:22:55.280 --> 0:22:57.639 could have had a park around it, you know, for 0:22:57.680 --> 0:23:00.640 the for the residents. So that's one of the reasons 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:03.080 why people are saying, actually, sausage flats is not a 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:05.359 good way to develop us up. The other factor that 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:09.679 is significant in this is what's called walkable catchments. So 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:13.840 around the city center Auckland City Center there is a 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:18.480 twelve hundred meter walkable catchment. Effectively, they've said if you 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:22.840 can walk, if it's fifteen minute walk from downtown, then 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:26.240 you can build densely in that area. And for the 0:23:26.440 --> 0:23:32.240 railway stations it's an eight hundred meta radius for a 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.520 ten minute walk. It's not an absolute radius, it's not 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:39.119 just a circle. They looked at the geography, they looked 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:41.879 at the things like where the railway lines are. You 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:44.520