Caught on the hop - Wellington region's mayors want more detail about government's housing intensification plans

Wednesday, 20 October 2021

Wellington City Mayor Andy Foster says the timing of the housing intensification policy was poor given the council was a day out from debating its District Plan, following four years of work.

The region’s mayors say they’ve been blindsided by the Government and National’s joint housing intensification announcement.

The bipartisan bill unveiled on Tuesday allows buildings of up to three storeys on most sites in cities without a resource consent from next August.

Wellington mayor Andy Foster said he was irked by the timing of the policy’s release a day before his council debated its District Plan.

“It’s really frustrating. We’ve done four years of work to get ourselves to this point… We’re trying to do something which really integrates the urban development with the provision of transport and three waters infrastructure, in a way that makes for a more sustainable city.”

Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy says the new policy interferes with work undertaken under previous central government direction.

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National MP Nicola Willis says developers will build where the demand is – along transport routes..

He was concerned the new rules would mean developers would be drawn to the outer suburbs

“It means there will inevitably be a great proportion of future growth spread out around the suburbs, rather than concentrated close to public transport routes and the centre city..”

Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said he'd been caught on the hop by the announcement.

'It came as a complete surprise. The government keeps saying they want to work with local government, but this has turned everything on its head.

'The issue I have is they've spent the last couple of years saying 'we want higher density housing along transport spines' - councils have [been developing plans around this], and well, that's just gone out the window.'

Wellington-based National MP Nicola Willis, who is leading the bill for her party, dismissed the idea that the medium density rules would lead to more sprawling development in the outer suburbs.

Kapiti District Mayor K Gurunathan said solutions to the housing crisis were needed, but thought the hastily introduced policy might have some teething problems.

“These proposals will create more choices for when homes can be built.

“I imagine developers will build where they know they can sell, and that will continue to be along major transport routes,” she said.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker had a more hopeful outlook, saying the policy would cut out time and cost to builds.

Willis said the new bill would free councils from the bureaucratic quagmires of the Resource Management Act, which was often blamed for holding up housing development.

Guppy said the plan to hasten building had some merit, but the reality could be very different if quality urban design was not considered and funding for support infrastructure was left out.

'We haven't seen a lot of detail,' he said.

Hutt City mayor Campbell Barry said the central government should be prepared to assist local authorities in funding infrastructure needed to support intensified housing.

'It will be unsustainable to put the total cost on the current rate paying base - or the future one for that matter.'

The lifting of red tape would have a large impact on the look of New Zealand's cities, he said.

Kāpiti District mayor K Gurunathan said it was clear New Zealand needed more houses. In Kāpiti, about 14,000 new dwellings were needed in the coming years to keep up with population growth.

“We’re in the midst of a housing crisis, and addressing it is fundamental to the wellbeing of our community.”

He said the speed at which the policy had been introduced would mean there would be hooks. He had questions about the impact on other types of consents, areas already zoned for housing intensification, and rules around land with productive soil.

He also felt taxpayers should help ratepayers bear the burden of associated infrastructure costs.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker was hopeful that cutting out the lengthy and expensive consent process would make more stock available, and lower costs.

Although people might be spooked by the thought of three-level buildings popping up next-door, she believed the reality would be that not every development would push the limits of the policy.