AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL
MEDIA RELEASE

13 August 2007

Proposed Newmarket plan change 196

Auckland City Council has notified a district plan change for Newmarket to provide for more homes, businesses and retail outlets.

Councillor Glenda Fryer, chairperson of the council’s Planning and Regulatory committee, says that the proposed plan change 196 (PC196) provides for increased business and residential development in one of the city’s most important growth areas.

“Newmarket is strategically important and, together with the CBD, it stands as one of the city’s premier retail and transport hubs,” she says.

“Newmarket is an area with the potential to accommodate more people and more jobs, and PC196 will provide the environment to guide how that growth happens in a way that protects the area’s unique character.”

The notified plan change increases the potential for more homes, businesses and retail outlets by:

- introducing the residential 8c planning zone to a number of residential areas on the outskirts of Newmarket’s main retail and business areas that are currently zoned residential 6 and 7. The residential 8c zone allows for five-storey developments up to a maximum height of 17 metres and includes controls for minimum bedroom sizes and the maximum number of studio, one and two bedroom units allowed in a development

- increasing the maximum height of buildings in Newmarket’s business 3 zone, which includes Broadway, from 30 metres to 34 metres

- raising height limits in Newmarket’s mixed-use zone from 15 metres to 21 metres and to 27 metres on Khyber Pass Road

- increasing the development potential of mixed-use areas by allowing a higher ratio of floor space to lot size. The floor area ratio for mixed use areas increases from 2:1 to 3:1

- re-zoning existing business 4 areas, including the 5.3ha former Lion Brewery site, to mixed-use.

The plan change also suggests reductions in the onsite parking requirements for new developments and puts in place measures to discourage new commercial car parks.

“Newmarket is a public transport hub, well served by both buses and trains. These measures encourage people to make sustainable transport choices and they will help to provide a better living and shopping environment by reducing road congestion,” Ms Fryer says.

PC196 also protects character buildings by introducing development controls to help retain buildings that contribute to Newmarket’s identity and visual amenity.

Submissions on the proposed plan change close on 10 September 2007. For more information, visit www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/isthmusplan or phone 09 379 2020.

ENDS

Notes to the editor:

The council’s growth management strategy identifies Newmarket as an area that can support extra population and economic growth.

In September 2004, following extensive community consultation, the council adopted a liveable community plan for the area (called Newmarket’s future framework) that sets out the vision for how Newmarket will change and grow to 2021.

PC 196 will help to deliver the vision set out in Newmarket’s future framework.

Projects planned or currently underway in the area as part of Newmarket’s future framework include:

- upgrading Broadway’s streetscape

- redesigning and upgrading Lumsden Green

- redevelopment of Newmarket’s rail station

- the Central Connector, a 24-hour a day dedicated bus and cycle lane connecting the CBD and Newmarket

© Scoop Media