Maintaining Special Character under Plan Change 120
Character Coalition is currently campaigning to retain the Special Character areas in Auckland. Here’s an explanation of the issues.
Council’s Proposed Plan Change 120 (PC120) which has been forced upon it by Government, proposes large-scale planning changes across Auckland. Its stated aim is to increase the availability and affordability of housing.
The Character Coalition supports increased housing supply, but not at the expense of Auckland’s identity and liveability.
There are 50 Special Character Overlays (SCA) in the city.
These are located in parts and sometimes multiple parts of Balmoral, Balmoral Shopping Centre, Birkenhead Point, Devonport, Eden Valley, Ellerslie, Epsom, Epsom/Greenlane, Foch Avenue and Haig Avenue, Grey Lynn, Helensville, Helensville Central, Herne Bay, Hill Park, Howick, Kings Road and Princes Avenue, Kingsland, Lower Hinemoa Street, Mission Bay, Mount Albert, Mount Eden, Mount Eden/Epsom, Mount RoskillMt Eden Village, Newmarket, Northcote Point, Onehunga, Otahuhu, Parnell, Ponsonby Road, Puhoi, Pukehana Avenue, Remuera, Remuera /Meadowbank, Remuera/Epsom, Sandringham, St Heliers, Stanley Point, Station Road, Papatoetoe, Three Kings, Upper Symonds Street, and West Lynn.
Our Special Character Areas have been included in, and protected by, city plans since the 1990’s. During that time, owners and residents of properties within them have spent a great deal of time and money ensuring that their homes, and their neighbourhood, retain the characteristics that define their area, while at the same time bringing their homes up to contemporary living standards.
The mechanism by which these areas are protected is by their inclusion in the Special Character Area overlay in the Unitary Plan, and objectives policies and rules in the plan which prevent inappropriate development of those properties and within each area.
Auckland’s Special Character Areas are of international significance. Compared with overseas examples:
“Auckland’s special character areas encompass a rare gem in global urbanism, a taonga – a collection of documented and protected timber architecture from the 19th and 20th centuries unrivalled worldwide in scale and quality.”
Auckland’s Special Character Areas: He Taonga o Tāmaki Makaurau (Howie, 2024)
These SCA make a strong contribution to the city’s character and therefore were zoned for ongoing protection under the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP).
After a thorough and exhaustive process and thousands of public submissions the AUP was formalised before it was approved by the council ten years ago.
The plan up-zoned huge areas for intensive housing to meet 30 years of high population growth that have barely been utilised. The AUP already provides enough capacity for further intensification. The AUP also declared the SCA zones warranted protection from intensification.
We do not believe providing more housing should mean the destruction of Auckland’s identity and special character. To be a truly liveable city, the city’s older housing areas and volcanic cone viewshafts need to be retained.
Auckland does need to provide more affordable housing. Our expert advice is that zoning more land when we already have more than enough zoned capacity, and reducing our Special Character areas will not help to achieve either more, or more affordable, housing.
Therefore re-zoning for high density in SCAs will result in the permanent loss of much of the city’s identity for no purpose.
What makes a city truly liveable is accessible housing but also numerous parks, beaches, and places to visit and enjoy. The whole population is able to benefit from these attributes.
Auckland Council should ensure that Auckland can develop and provide housing while retaining the features that make it an attractive and unique city for everyone to enjoy. P
While Plan Change 120 does propose to retain some areas of special character, but would remove protection from about 5000 properties, or around 25% of our Special Character Areas. This is unnecessary and unacceptable.
Character Coalition's submission on Plan Change 120 is here.
Character Coalition’s Submission on Plan Change 78
SPECIAL CHARACTER AREAS – SPATIAL EXTENT
While Council has correctly included Special Character Areas as a qualifying matter, it has not carried forward all the Special Character Areas that are currently contained in the Unitary Plan as Special Character and/or Heritage Areas.
Council has:-
1. Wrongly set a threshold of “high quality” in deciding which Special Character Areas it has carried forward ;
2. Wrongly concluded that a Special Character Area is only of “high quality” or sufficient quality if 75% or 66% (depending on whether the area is within a walkable catchment) of the properties within it have scored 5 or 6 on its scale;
3. Applied an incorrect and/or inadequate methodology and/or used incorrect and/or inadequate criteria in assessing the value of properties within Special Character Areas;
4. Wrongly excluded from consideration a number of properties in Special Character Areas because it has incorrectly applied its methodology in scoring them;
5. Wrongly applied the methodology it has adopted in determining what is an area it deems to be of “high quality” and therefore suitable for inclusion as a Special Character Area.
6. Wrongly failed to include a number of areas of Special Character value as Special Character Areas.
7. Wrongly failed to include relevant matters in the character statements for some or all of the Special Character Areas it has retained.
Taken together, these errors mean that a number of areas that should be protected from insensitive and inappropriate development are now unprotected.
The failure of the proposed Plan Change to include and protect these areas:
1. Is contrary to the purpose of the Resource Management Act 1991 as set out in Section 5 and Part II.
2. Does not recognise and provide for the protection of historic heritage from inappropriate subdivision, use, and development as required by S6 (f) of the Act.
3. Fails to have particular regard and/or sufficient regard to the matters set out in Section 7 of the Act, and in particular S7:
(b) the efficient use and development of natural and physical resources:
(c) the maintenance and enhancement of amenity values:
(f) maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment:
(i) the effects of climate change.
4. Will have significant adverse effects on the environment, and in particular on the people of Auckland and their communities, on the amenity values in the areas thus excluded and on the social, economic, aesthetic, and cultural conditions which are affected by those matters.
5. Is not required to give effect to the requirements of the Resource Management (Housing and Other Matters) Amendment Act 1991 or of the National Policy Statement – Urban Development, because the Plan Change with all the Special Character Areas included as a qualifying matter would provide more than enough capacity for Auckland’s future housing needs for the foreseeable future.
The Character Coalition seeks the following decisions to be made by Council:
1. The inclusion of all the Special Character Areas currently in the Unitary Plan as Special Character areas in the Proposed Plan Change.
2. In particular, the inclusion of the following properties and/or areas in or as Special Character areas in the Proposed Plan Change:
a. An area or areas in Epsom as shown outlined in blue on Attachment A.
b. The expansion of the area of Queen Street in Northcote Point (currently identified as a Special Character Area on the Council’s map of Survey Areas 65 & 66 dated August 2022) as shown in Attachment B.
c. An area or areas in Ayr & Laurie Streets in Parnell as shown outlined in blue on Attachment C.
d. The properties in West End Road shown on the Council’s map of Survey Area 25 dated August 2022 but which now have been removed from the area identified as a Qualifying Matter
e. The properties in St Stephens Ave Parnell shown on the Council’s map of Survey Area 26 (part) dated August 2022 as having been removed from the Special Character Overlay.
f. The properties in the Ohinerau/Mt Hobson Area currently shown on Council’s map of Survey Area 41 (Isthmus C only) dated January 2022 which were previously in a Special Character Area, but which have not been included in the area identified in the Plan Change as a Qualifying Matter.
g. The properties in Middleton Rd, Ada Street, Bassett Road and Seaview Road, Remuera shown on the Councils map of Survey Area 5a (Isthmus A only) dated August 2022) as having been removed from the Special Character Overlay.
h. The properties from 2-18 Lucerne Rd shown on the Councils map of Survey Area 5a (Isthmus A only) dated August 2022 as having been removed from the Special Character Overlay.
i. The properties in Bassett Rd, Remuera shown on the Council’s map of Survey Area 5b (being Isthmus B properties only) dated April 2022 as having been removed from the Special Character Overlay.
j. The properties from 60 to 118 Arney Road Remuera and all the properties in Seaview Road, Remuera shown on the Council’s map of Survey Areas 6 and Part 56 (Isthmus B ) dated August 2022 as having been removed from the Special Character Overlay.
k. The properties in Remuera East outlined in red on Attachment D.
l. The properties in Aldred Avenue and Victoria Rd, Remuera shown coloured on attachment E.
m. The properties from 28 to 58, 31 to 39 and 55-65 Kelvin Avenue, Remuera, shown outlined in yellow on attachment F.
3. Any other or further changes to the Proposed Plan Change which are required to give effect to those changes listed in 1 and 2 above and to protect the properties and areas referred to in 1 and 2 above from inappropriate subdivision and development.
OTHER MATTERS
The parts of the plan and/or areas upon which Character Coalition is submitting
The reasons for our concerns.
What we want done to meet those concerns (see tables below).
