Epsom MP David Seymour leads Parnell meeting against high-rise zoning plan
Parnell residents have packed a public meeting tonight over concerns about high-rise apartments in the city’s oldest suburb.
Deputy Prime Minister and Epsom MP David Seymour has organised the meeting at the Rose Park Hotel in response to the impact of the latest urban development plans in the wealthy suburb where homes sell for up to $20 million.
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David Seymour has wrapped up the meeting
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David Seymour has wrapped up the meeting, telling people that he hoped they had an understanding of where we have come fro
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Mike Lee got applause for answering a question about the lack of information about the plans.
He said there was real concern over the issue and complying with directives coming from RMA Minister Chris Bishop, “and why we are heading for something of a crisis”.
'It smells and it doesn’t smell good': Crowd asks council planning director questions
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One man asked why the Auckland Council has to upzone for 2 million homes, which Seymour said may come to how the law is interpreted.
Council planning director Megan Tyler said: “We are doing what we are being asked.”
Another man asked if people in the single-house zone are going to be slowly overwhelmed with substantial shading from new developments.
Tyler said there would be shading on the edges between the single house zones and a more dense zone.
“I’m sure over time you will see more and more high-density houses.”
One woman has risen and said: “It smells, and it doesn’t smell good…to see how much of this suburb is going to be loaded and changed without time and courtesy.”
Mike Lee says determining factor should be what the people want
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Mike Lee said the determining factor should be what the people want, not what the Government and the council want.
"What we need in Auckland is appropriate planning, intelligent planning, and planning that has the democratic approval of the people of Auckland."
What we need to tell the council and the Government, Lee said, is in a quote from the Bible, “Hither to thou shalt come, but no further.”
Mike Lee says new plans are deeply misconceived
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Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee said the issue was meant to be about making housing more affordable, which was once the case and norm, but the latest plans were deeply misconceived.
Lee said there was a major problem with the crazy amount of extra housing, providing for a population of 7 million to 9 million people.
David Seymour speaks
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Putting up a council map of the area, David Seymour said there is a dramatic increase in the Terraced Housing and Apartment zone to the northwest of St Stephens Ave.
'Great art of politics': Seymour explains draft replacement plan
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After explaining the background to the draft replacement plan, Seymour said, "I believe we will get to a sensible place, but it will involve the great art of politics".
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Following David Seymour's address, Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee, and the council's planning director will address the 150 or so people attending the meeting.
David Seymour opens the meeting
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David Seymour has opened the meeting, thanking people for attending on a Friday night.
He said the purpose of the meeting is to get a better understanding of what is happening, and informing, enabling and empowering people to participate in the political process.
Room begins to fill ahead of meeting
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The room at the Rose Park Hotel is filling up.
Around 150 people are in attendance.
Among those present are Waitematā and Gulf councillor Mike Lee and Orakei Local Board member Troy Churton.
Churton was criticised for a gun to the head gesture at a similar meeting in Mt Eden last week.
The meeting is set to kick off at 7pm
Lane Nichols
Parnell residents are expected to pack a public meeting tonight over concerns about high-rise apartments in the city’s oldest suburb.
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Seymour is worried that under the plans, much of Parnell, north and west of the glamorous address of St Stephens Ave, has been zoned for six-storey, 50m apartments and townhouses in Auckland Council’s draft replacement plan.
Council maps show proposed 50m housing zones extending down existing single-house streets and through the business mixed-use zone, an area Urban Auckland chairwoman Julie Stout this week described as an exciting opportunity for people to live close to work or study, and to shop and eat out locally.
A similar packed meeting was held in Mt Eden last week, organised by the Character Coalition - comprising about 60 heritage and community groups - to discuss what could be done to avoid the worst consequences of the latest proposal for intensification and loss of ‘Special Character’ areas of villas and bungalows.
Seymour told the Herald ahead of the meeting that given Parnell’s recent experience with serious flood damage, a major sewer-related sinkhole, and sewerage leaking on the shoreline, the local infrastructure was plainly not up to such intensification.
“I also believe it will bring a significant change to the character of New Zealand’s oldest suburb,” he said.
The Act leader supports much of what RMA Minister Chris Bishop was doing to “restore commonsense to housing policy”, particularly by removing the previous Government’s one-size-fits-all intensification rules.
The Herald has produced its own interactive graphic, based on council-provided data, where readers can see how the changes affect their neighbourhood. Look up your street here
“That was a big step forward,” said Seymour, who is trying to prevail upon the council and Bishop to make changes to the city’s new draft plan.
Last month, Auckland councillors agreed to begin a replacement plan allowing capacity for up to two million homes by accepting Bishop’s offer to opt out of the previous Government’s medium-density residential standards (MDRS) rules permitting three-storey homes everywhere. Opting out required the council to adopt new planning rules enabling equivalent housing capacity.
Councillors are expected to vote on September 24 to abandon the MDRS and proceed to public consultation on the draft replacement plan.
Seymour told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking yesterday he was concerned the new plan required almost no greenfield development, where infrastructure costs could be recovered from new residents, unlike in old suburbs.
“In Parnell, a building fell into a sinkhole two years ago after a 120-year-old brick sewer imploded.
“We do need to make it easier to build a home, but what we absolutely cannot do is dislocate planning and infrastructure provision, which will lead to a total disaster,” he said.
Seymour plans a similar meeting in Remuera next week.
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