Mt Eden public meeting hears protest against loss of character homes and high-rise apartments
A hall in Mt Eden has been packed out for a public meeting tonight over concerns about high-rise apartments and the loss of “Special Character” status for hundreds of villas and bungalows in the wider neighbourhood.
Tonight’s meeting has been organised by the Character Coalition, comprising about 60 heritage and community groups, and local residents, in response to the latest urban development plans for Auckland.
The draft plans would see Auckland’s skyline in for a major makeover, increasing the city’s capacity for new builds from 900,000 under the 2016 Unitary Plan to accommodating two million new homes.
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Meeting comes to fractious end
Scott Palmer
Character Coalition chair Sally Hughes said things are getting a little bit fractious and it was time to wrap things up.
Student says change needed
Scott Palmer
A 24 year old planning student got up and said he lives in a damp mouldy flat in a special character area and older people are preventing the change we need.
Troy Churton, from a local board, started shouting at him.
Member of the public speaks out
Scott Palmer
One man called Michael, aged 37, said he lived in a character house zoned for six-storey apartments, which he supported.
He and his friends did not want to live in Drury, but in an affordable house close to the city.
Paul Goldsmith there to listen
Scott Palmer
National’s Paul Goldsmith said his primary reason for attending the meeting was to listen.
He said the Government was not acting “Putin-like”, saying there is a big expansion in capacity and vastly increasing supply to take the pressure off house prices so the next generation can have a decent shot at buying an affordable property.
We should have a discussion and a debate about the 2 million figure and, if we stick with it, where to put the houses, he said.
Public inside hall
Scott Palmer
A view from inside the Mt Eden community meeting.
MP calls plan gnarly issue
Scott Palmer
Mt Albert MP Helen White said the plan was a gnarly issue, saying there is a need for affordable housing and the serious issue of homelessness.
“We need to go up rather than pave the city in concrete, but the Government needs to make sure we build well, and have money for infrastructure,” said the Labour MP.
Architect calls Govt target 'bonkers'
Natasha
Architect Julie Stout, who chairs Urban Auckland, called the Government’s target of 2 million houses “absolute bonkers”.
She said cities are complex organisms, saying intensification is a long-term act that needs to be treated with care and involves local people.
'If you don’t, you will not be heard': Local Board chairwoman urges people to inundate Govt
Natasha
Albert-Eden Local Board chairwoman Kendyl Smith said the issue was not about saying no to change but yes to the right change that balances growth with heritage.
She urged people at the meeting to inundate Chris Bishop, Epsom MP David Seymour, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Mt Albert MP Helen White “with what you think”.
“If you don’t, you will not be heard,” she said.
'The council has a gun to its head': Orakei Local Board member says
Natasha
Orakei Local Board member Troy Churton said people have three weeks before the council votes to proceed with the draft replacement plan.
He is urging people to put community-led pressure on Minister Chris Bishop, who has enormous power as RMA, housing, and infrastructure minister.
"The council has a gun to its head," he said.
Fletcher claims new plan will cost $20b or more in Albert-Eden
Natasha
Local councillor Christine Fletcher told the crowd the new plan will cost $20b or more in Albert-Eden alone, and across the city will require 56 new primary schools, 23 secondary schools and 20 new hospitals, because there will be 4.8 million more people.
These things are disputed.
No one expects 2 million houses will be built, as Fletcher’s colleague Troy Churton has himself explained.
Capacity is not the same as delivery.
Local councillor says plan is ill-considered
Natasha
Local councillor Christine Fletcher said the council was trying to meet a target that is completely unacceptable to find a model for 2m houses.
What we have now is not considered and hasn’t been masterplanned.
She said just in Mt Eden, the cost of new infrastructure would be $20 billion, and when it comes to social infrastructure, the city would need 56 new primary schools, 23 secondary schools, and 20 new hospitals for 8.4 million extra people.
Local councillor Christine Fletcher speaks
Natasha
Local councillor Chris Fletcher, who has lived in a villa in Mt Eden for 45 years, said: "Character and heritage are a big part of who we are as this community."
Round of applause given
Natasha
Following a presentation from Ceila Davison and heritage manager Noel Reardon, the crowd gave them a round of applause.
Character Coalition chair says it is a 'very complicated issue'
Natasha
Character Coalition chair Sally Hughes said: "Everyone accepts this is a very complicated issue and you need a legal degree to start to understand it."
Ceila Davison explains the draft replacement plan
Natasha
Council planner Ceila Davison said wherever you see orange on maps, that is where Terraced Housing and Apartments of six storeys are allowed, and 10 and 15 storeys in main centres and transport corridors.
There are a variety of zones, but the key difference in this plan is the height enabled and where it will be enabled.
She said all the city's volcanic viewshafts remain in the draft replacement plan.
Council planner Ceila Davison says draft plan was 'really significant'
Natasha
Council planner Ceila Davison said the draft replacement plan was "really significant" and will change the way Auckland looks over a very long time if the council goes ahead with it next month.
Meeting kicks off
Natasha
An overflow room has been opened for the meeting, which has kicked off with a warm welcome from Character Coalition chair Sally Hughes.
'I'm here to listen': Paul Goldsmith arrives
Natasha
National Party Cabinet Minister Paul Goldsmith has walked into the meeting at the Mt Eden Village Centre, saying: "I'm here to listen."
Large turnout at meeting
Scott Palmer
A Herald reporter says the hall is filling up and looks like it will be full to overflowing.
Public meeting expected to draw large crowd
Scott Palmer
A public meeting is expected to draw a large crowd in Mt Eden tonight over concerns of high-rise apartments and the potential loss of “Special Character” status for hundreds of villas and bungalows in the area.
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Council planner Ceila Davison said the draft replacement plan was “really significant” and will change the way Auckland looks over a very long time if the council goes ahead with it next month.
This was followed by speeches by local leaders, including Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa ward councillor Christine Fletcher, who has lived in a villa in Mt Eden for 45 years.
Fletcher said the council was trying to meet a completely unacceptable target.
“Character and heritage are a big part of who we are as this community,” she said.
Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton said people have three weeks before the council votes to proceed with the draft replacement plan.
He urged people to put community-led pressure on Minister Chris Bishop, who has enormous power as RMA, housing, and infrastructure minister.
“The council has a gun to its head,” he said.
Meanwhile two members of the public called for housing action. One said he lives in a damp, mouldy flat in a special character area, and blamed older people for preventing change.
Another said he supported zoning character housing for six-storey apartments as he did not want to have to live out in Drury.
Epsom MP and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, who is overseas on ministerial business, provided a written statement.
In his statement, Seymour said that while the latest plans were an improvement on an earlier plan for three houses of three storeys everywhere, they still had significant flaws, especially up-zoning ahead of necessary infrastructure and demand.
He described this as a poor way to address housing affordability.
Seymour said he would advocate to Bishop that the plan was not necessary and would have negative unintended consequences.
Mt Albert MP Helen White described the plan as a gnarly issue, adding there is a need for affordable housing and the serious issue of homelessness.
“We need to go up rather than pave the city in concrete, but the Government needs to make sure we build well, and have money for infrastructure,” said the Labour MP.
National MP Paul Goldsmith said he was there to listen. We should have a discussion and a debate about the 2 million figure and, if we stick with it, where to put the houses, he said.
What the draft allowance plan means
In order to replace the last Government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), allowing for “3 x3″ homes everywhere, Bishop has agreed Auckland Council can opt out if it adopts new planning rules for the equivalent number of two million homes.
The council’s draft replacement plan includes allowance for 10- and 15-storey apartments in 44 town centres and along transport corridors, and a further loss of kauri villas and bungalows.
Bishop is eager to up-zone Kingsland, an inner-city suburb poised to benefit from the City Rail Link opening next year. Under the council’s proposal, 70% to 80% of the area is expected to lose its Special Character status, although the avenues will retain theirs.
Council planning director Megan Tyler said under the draft changes and pending local board feedback, 408 homes in Kingsland and 167 in Mt Eden would lose Special Character status under the draft replacement plan.
Before the meeting, Character Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes said it was an opportunity to learn what could be done to avoid the worst consequences of the latest proposal for intensification and loss of character.
“These protected areas have existed for many years in Auckland’s city plans,” she said, saying a major study last year found the city’s character housing to be a global gem of 19th- and 20th-century timber architecture, unmatched in scale and quality.
Hughes said the plan lacked a clear urban strategy, encouraged high-rise buildings, and placed more pressure on already stretched infrastructure such as schools, open spaces, and water and wastewater services.
Earlier this week, Fletcher said Bishop deserved recognition for intensification along improved rail corridors and measures to address natural hazards, but likened the target of two million homes to “planning by firing squad”.
“Forcing Auckland Council to create a massive two million housing supply environment that cannot be delivered physically or financially creates an enormous economic burden for future generations.
“Infrastructure-led development delivers superior outcomes to capacity-led development,” said Fletcher, bemoaning the council’s weak pushback on the two million target.
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