Michael Neill has watched Mt Eden change since the early 1970s, from a “rundown area” to a suburb where families plant trees, fight for parks and feel fiercely protective of their streets.

Now, as Auckland Council weighs up proposed planning rules which would allow 15-storey tower blocks across the suburb and far beyond, he and his neighbours are speaking up about what they fear could be lost — and how change should be done.

“I moved here in 1973. This was a rundown area. I'd been renting in Parnell, and that was an area that was slowly moving up,” Neill says.

“It's hard to believe how undesirable inner-city Auckland was considered to be in those days. This was the only area in inner-city Auckland, reasonably close to where I was teaching, that was feasible. “It was only after I lived here for a while that I began to appreciate the kind of neighbourhood it was and might become.”

The proposed rules are a revision to Plan Change 78, the guidelines for housing intensification in Auckland.

They’ve prompted heated debate across the city, with David Seymour organising public meetings in Parnell and Remuera.

The revised plan change would significantly level up what can be built - and where. The government is insisting on the council creating rules that would allow the building of 2 million new homes.

• Kingsland, known for its vibrant atmosphere and character housing, faces potential risk from proposed high-rise developments.

• Minister Chris Bishop argues Special Character Areas (SCA) impede development, but locals say there’s ample land already zoned for growth.

• Residents urge protection of Kingsland’s special character areas, highlighting existing development opportunities and market conditions.

Is Auckland about to become the new Hong Kong or Manhattan or are people scaremongering about what intensification for the city means?SUPPLIED

Revisions to Auckland Council’s zoning policy plans don’t often work people up into a frenzy, but include “2 million new homes” in the headline, and they take notice.

Over the past couple of weeks, it’s been a controversial issue, with communities divided and opposing sides of the argument accusing the other of scaremongering or destroying the very nature of what Auckland’s about.

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour says high-rise apartments make sense near transport hubs like Mt Eden station – but has warned that pushing 15-storey towers into Parnell risks overwhelming Auckland’s infrastructure.

Speaking at a packed public meeting in Parnell on Friday night, Seymour said Auckland Council’s new housing plan would bring to the suburb some of the “most dramatic” changes anywhere in the city, with swathes of the suburb rezoned for buildings up to 15 storeys.

“That is quite a significant uplift in the height of buildings allowed in suburban Parnell,” he told residents. “It’s probably the most dramatic increase anywhere in Auckland.”