Hutt council speaks out against national housing intensification bill

Thursday, 25 November 2021

The Hutt City Council says it doesn't support the Government’s amendment to intensify housing under the RMA, saying no effort was made to collaborate with councils, and it undermines existing efforts to build more houses.

The Hutt City Council says the Government’s attempt to accelerate housing density is a blunt instrument that will undermine its existing efforts to build more houses.

In a written submission to Parliament’s Environment Committee, the council said the outcomes of unregulated intensification would have detrimental effects on the city.

The Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill proposes introducing Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) allowing development of up to three dwellings being built to three storeys in the country’s larger centres without the need for a resource consent. Jointly endorsed by the Government and the National Party, the bill would take effect from August 2022.

The council’s submission said it could not endorse the bill in its present form. It supported its intent, but felt it would have “major impacts for our city that we are not willing to accept”.

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The council lamented the lack of “genuine consultation” with local authorities. Its district plan which has already been changed to allow for higher density building under the Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development would have to be altered again.

A law change will allow landowners in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch to build up to three storeys without resource consent. (Video first published in October 2021)

It argued those changes, which were agreed upon in 2019, had already yielded a significant increase in house building. The council’s figures showed consents granted for new dwellings stood at 1142 in 2021, compared with the 2019 total of 571.

The council said targeted efforts to make the National Policy Statement work in the city would be steamrolled by the new bill which allowed building away from areas identified by the council as being suitable for intensification.

The changes would also affect the council’s carbon reduction efforts by allowing building away from areas served by public transport.

“By enabling three-storey housing without proximity to public transport, the Bill will further incentivise private vehicle transport and do little to decrease our carbon emissions. This directly contradicts the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan.”

The council’s environment and sustainability director Helen Oram, in a separate submission, raised concerns over the new bill. She said it could cause confusion and unnecessary work, the submission stated several aspects of it were ambiguous or inconsistent.

Upper Hutt City Council chief executive Peter Kelly said his council also made a submission which recommended the Government work more closely with councils. It recommended several amendments including tying the MDRS to the zones identified by the council as being suitable to intensification.

“Doing so would help avoid otherwise permitted fragmentation and piecemeal development, hampering opportunities for comprehensive development.”

It urged the Government to consider urban development standards that would ensure new dwellings and communities were functioning and attractive places to live.