Auckland Council ‘considering options’ after housing mega-development in flood plain fast-tracked despite warnings
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Council, transport and water agencies warned the 3,850-home Sunfield development posed flood, infrastructure and planning risks - and are now considering legal options while the mayor is questioning why it was fast-tracked. Amelia Wade reports.
A controversial housing development in south Auckland has been approved through the Government’s fast-track planning regime despite Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and Watercare urging decision-makers to decline it.
Auckland agencies are now understood to be considering their options - including potential legal action.
The expert panel established under the Fast-track Approvals Act approved Winton Land’s proposed Sunfield development last week after about 10 months of deliberations.
The project would create a major master-planned community east of Papakura including about 3,850 homes, three retirement villages, a town centre and a school. It is designed around the principles of a “15-minute neighbourhood”, where residents can access most daily needs within a short walk or bike ride. Winton have defended the project as being expertly planned by a tier one engineering firm.
However, the approval comes with extensive conditions aimed at ameliorating concerns raised by Auckland authorities but those have been met with scepticism that the burden won’t fall on ratepayers.
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More than 170 pages of consent conditions cover matters including roading upgrades, stormwater management, groundwater diversion and aviation safety.
Documents released alongside the decision show Auckland’s key planning and infrastructure agencies strongly opposed the development, which - despite being fast-tracked and bypassing the usual consenting process - is still expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete.
A summary of comments provided to the panel shows Auckland Council said the proposal conflicted with several layers of the planning framework, including the Future Development Strategy, the Auckland Unitary Plan and relevant national policy statements.
Council officials warned the project posed a risk of worsening existing flood hazards and said there were significant unresolved issues in the developer’s proposal.
“The level of development proposed poses unacceptable risks to flood management, water quality and public safety.”
The council also raised concerns about the loss of highly productive farmland and the design of the development, saying it largely consisted of low-density housing and lacked provision for higher-density development.
Officials also questioned whether the proposed open space would function effectively, noting many of the planned parks sit within flood-prone drainage reserves.
Combined with aircraft noise from nearby Ardmore Airport, council planners said the development would not create a well-functioning urban environment.
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown questioned why Sunfield sought and was approved consent under fast-track legislation when it wasn’t a fast-moving development.
“The Government created the fast-track regime to speed up major infrastructure and development by providing a streamlined path for approvals.
“But if a project that has been consented under urgency with minimal council input and then is allowed to sit around for two years before construction even starts, it defeats the whole purpose.”
Brown said you could normally get resource consent through the standard process in two years, which would mean developers worked with the council to address local issues.
He said the expectation of the process was that building should start immediately - like the Port of Auckland and the Auckland Surf Park, which were both fast-tracked and construction was ready to go promptly afterwards.
“Calling something ‘fast-track’ when nothing happens for years is pointless.
“My view is simple: if you want the benefit of a fast-track approval, you should be ready to start work quickly. If bulldozers aren’t rolling within six weeks, then the project should go through the normal consenting process like everyone else.”
Winton’s chief operating officer Simon Ash said the developer intended to proceed immediately with implementing the consent.
Chair of Auckland Council’s policy, planning and development committee Richard Hills said since the major 2023 floods in the city, the council and Aucklanders had been “really clear” they don’t want to see development in flood plains that may put people and property in harm’s way - which was a direction by the government’s own national adaptation framework.
Hills said all parts of the council were now examining options in response to the approval.
The development would also “inevitably” have an impact on ratepayers, he said.
“In a normal council process, you would come to a point where you would work out who was going to pay for what, how things would roll out, and how you'd sequence that infrastructure. That is not the case with fast-track.
“And there's also a lot of assumptions in there - especially given a large part of the development is in a pretty significant floodplain - and there are not clear solutions to deal with all of that.”
Infrastructure constraints were a major theme in submissions opposing the development.
Watercare said the area currently lacks planned or funded water and wastewater infrastructure capable of supporting a development of this scale.
Water supply points in the area were already operating at full capacity and funding alone could not guarantee infrastructure could be delivered earlier due to regulatory and practical constraints.
The utility also questioned the wastewater system proposed for the development, saying the low-pressure sewer design suggested by Winton did not comply with its code of practice for developments of that scale.
But Winton successfully argued that the lack of potable water “constitutes a developer’s risk” and was not an environmental or consenting issue - so was not grounds for an approval to be refused.
Hills said Watercare was already having to truck water out to developments built out of sequence - and the cost to do that falls on ratepayers. There would also be other impacts, he said, because the city’s water agency only had limited capacity and prioritising infrastructure for south Auckland could delay maintenance and upgrade work in existing suburbs.
Transport agencies also raised concerns.
Auckland Council said the developer had understated the likely traffic impacts, while Auckland Transport told the panel the developer had underestimated the scale of roading upgrades required - including two intersection improvements it believed were necessary but had not been included in Winton’s modelling.
The agency also questioned the proposal for privately funded public transport linking the development to nearby rail stations.
The New Zealand Transport Agency highlighted potential conflicts between the development and the planned Mill Road project, a Road of National Significance, noting the site overlaps with part of the transport corridor.
The project also drew concerns from Ardmore Airport, which sits next to the site.
Airport representatives warned that “reverse sensitivity” - where residents in new developments later complain about existing activities - could threaten airport operations.
“Airports have previously faced reduced operations due to pressure from new communities or special interest groups,” the airport told the panel.
Ardmore Airport has operated since the 1940s and aircraft movements are expected to grow significantly over the next decade.
The airport also opposed plans to close Hamlin Road, which currently provides a key access route.
“Any closure of Hamlin Road is unacceptable, as the airport requires full, unrestricted 24-hour access for emergency and business purposes.”
Despite those concerns, the panel ultimately concluded the issues raised could be addressed through design changes and the consent conditions.
Winton submitted a detailed response to the criticisms raised by the agencies and made changes to the project, including integrating the Mill Rd project, which reduced the development’s footprint.
It also argued there were substantial economic benefits of the project - stating it could ultimately produce about $1.5b in developmental value.
Ash told The Post Winton’s engineering solution for the Sunfield master-planned community has been designed by a tier one engineering firm, and prior to lodgement of their substantive application the engineering solution was thoroughly peer-reviewed by a further two equally well-qualified independent engineering firms.
“Winton has full confidence in the engineering solution for the Sunfield master-planned community which forms the basis of the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 decision issued by the Expert Panel,” he said in a statement.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones welcomed the approval, saying the project would boost housing supply and economic activity.
“This is a major win for housing supply, jobs and growth in Auckland,” Jones said.
“Fast-track is doing exactly what it was set up to do - getting big projects moving sooner.”
RMA Reform, Infrastructure and Housing Minister Chris Bishop distanced himself from the approval because, before entering government, he had advocated for the project.
Bishop’s office said it was “out of an abundance of caution” that Jones’ office issued the press release welcoming the approval due to a perceived conflict of interest.
The developer and parties linked to it have also made substantial political donations.
According to electoral returns, Winton director Christopher Meehan donated $50,000 to the Act Party in 2023 and $103,260 to the National Party. Speargrass Holdings — a company Meehan also directs — donated a further $52,894 to National in 2022.
In total, entities associated with Meehan donated about $206,000 to the two governing parties.
Bishop’s office told The Post: “The long-standing approach of the Cabinet Office to donations to political parties is that they are not generally treated as resulting in a pecuniary conflict of interest for individual ministers belonging to the party.”
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said while his party supported increasing housing supply, it needed to be done carefully.
“When the major authorities are opposed except Shane Jones - you have to ask yourself why that is,” he said.
“We need to be smart about this and consider all the risks involved. The last thing we want is families moving into homes only to move right back out because they aren’t safe.”
The approval is expected to materially lift the value of Winton Land’s largest project and could improve the outlook for a stock that has lagged the broader market over the past year.
Research by Forsyth Barr estimates the approval effectively converts about 225 hectares of rural land into development-enabled property, lifting its value from roughly $80 per square metre to around $350 per square metre - adding about $320 million in value to the project.