'This is damning': Auckland councillor releases PC120 feedback report

Sunday, 22 March 2026

A councillor has got the jump on Auckland Council, releasing a report claiming to reveal Aucklander’s views on intensification zoning plans, and says “it’s damning”.

Plan Change 120 is set to enable more townhouses in Auckland’s inner suburbs and allow for six to 15 storey apartment buildings along rail lines and some bus routes.

A record 10,500 submissions were received from supercity residents - more than for the original Unitary Plan.

Waitakere councillor Ken Turner says he commissioned independent analysis of the results using artificial intelligence and his results show approximately two thirds of Aucklanders oppose the proposal.

Just 5.8% fully support it, according to his analysis.

“The results speak for themselves,” said Turner. “The analysis shows strong opposition to PC120 and the proposed radical intensification, especially where infrastructure is lacking.”

An official analysis on the vast volumes of submissions wasn’t expected for at least two more months.

Senior council executives told councillors that 55 full time staff were working on it at a cost of $4 million and were only a third of the way through.

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Turner said after the council “quietly” released the submissions online he hired a consultancy, Unisphere Solutions, to use a large language model to crunch the data.

“If one lonely councillor can organise a team of specialists to achieve this in just over a week for less than $5000, why has Council spent $4m and forecasting another two months before completion?,” Turner questioned.

A memo sent to councillors, seen by The Post, said staff were developing a “Summary of Decisions Requested report”, which is required under the RMA.

These reports contain thorough analyses of issues raised by submitters and are provided to a hearings panel to inform their decision.

“Because of the volume of submissions and their complexity, this report is still a couple of months away,” the memo said.

Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa councillor Christine Fletcher

It was a controversial topic at a recent meeting when councillors were asked to vote in favour of a 10km radius from the CBD in which to focus intensification, but were told they could not see the submissions.

Councillor Christine Fletcher suggested it was “unprecedented” for councillors to be asked to make a decision without knowing public feedback.

“Has the council considered its reputation, asking councillors to decide on something with zero visibility? There isn’t a high trust environment with local government right now.”

Council’s GM of planning John Duguid said the “unprecedented” part was the Government changing the target from 2 million to 1.6 million part way through the process, prompting a change of legislation and council staff having to redraw maps.

Turner remains sceptical.

“I find it very hard to believe Auckland Council hasn't already used similar AI analysis, has no grasp of the strong public opposition, and can't advise councillors before making decisions.”

He told The Post, that in his view if his fellow councillors had been aware of the overwhelming opposition, they would have “swapped sides in 5 seconds flat”.

Auckland Council director of policy, planning and governance Megan Tyler.

“I told one of the senior planners, I was off to get a snorkel from my car. He said ‘why?’, I said ‘because the bullshit is so deep in there, I’m going to need it to breathe for the afternoon’.”

Two days after the vote Auckland Council released the full submissions online.

According to a memo sent by director of policy, planning and governance Megan Tyler, the council had been directed to do so by the independent hearings panel considering PC120.

“Under normal circumstances we would prefer to inform you ahead of public release, but given the panel is independent, this was not possible,” it said.

Aucklanders make their views known

Turner’s preliminary AI analysis suggests that 6840 (64.8%) submitters outright oppose PC120, while 3048 (28.9%) want changes and 614 (5.8%) supported it.

The most frequently raised issues were zoning impacts on specific areas (6,579, 62.7%), density perceived as too high (6,259, 59.6%), character and amenity (5,758, 54.8%), infrastructure capacity (5,713, 54.4%), and natural hazards (4,875, 46.4%).

Among those who support PC120, reasons given included supply and affordability (34.5%), current density seen as too low (26.9%) and more effective public transport (21.2%).

Submissions were predominantly from individuals at 7,480 (70.9%), while 2,523 (23.9%) were from professional agents, and 540 (5.1%) from organisations.

There was a near-universal consensus among opposing and amending submitters that infrastructure upgrades must precede or accompany intensification, the report said.

The 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods were repeatedly cited as evidence that infrastructure was not meeting current demand, let alone intensified demand, the report said.

Areas including Cockle Bay, Howick, Massey, Sunnynook, North Shore, East Auckland frequently often mentioned that schools were at or over roll capacity.

Peninsula communities like Te Atatu, Devonport, Bucklands Beach, Whangaparaoa, Northcote Point and Half Moon mentioned roads already overburdened with traffic.

But, the most universally cited specific concern was on-street carparking woes with submitters across every part of the city describing streets already effectively reduced to one lane by vehicles from new townhouse and apartment developments.

Over half of total submissions point to neighbourhood character and amenity as a concern.

According to the report the language used by these submitters was emotionally charged: 'concrete wastelands,' 'slums,' 'rabbit hutches,' 'noddy houses,' 'sausage apartments,' 'matchbox alleys,' 'cookie-cutter,' 'soulless.'

The top 10 suburbs represented by volume of submissions, in order, were: Mt Eden, Herne Bay, St Marys Bay, Mt Albert, Remuera, Parnell, Epsom, Cockle Bay, Freemans Bay and Howick.