Media release
Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer
Monday, 3 June 2013

Mayoral back-down over Unitary Plan notification date, great news

Auckland Mayor Len Brown’s change of heart, indicating the draft Unitary Plan may now not be notified until after the October local body elections is great news, says Councillor for Orakei, Cameron Brewer.

“Governments have a long standing convention that they don’t pass major legislation during an election campaign. That same respect needs to be applied to the controversial Unitary Plan.

“The Mayor’s earlier push for the plan to be notified in September at the height of the election campaign period was offensive to a lot of people. I’ve been saying for some time that it would be more appropriate to wait until after the election, for the second term council to then look at this plan with fresh eyes, make further changes, and then notify it. That would be the right thing to do. It’s encouraging that the Mayor is now considering putting the brakes on, despite his earlier push for pace.”

Mr Brewer says it was disappointing that last month only seven councillors - Wood, Fletcher, Brewer, Stewart, Penrose, Lee, and Coney – voted to extend the public feedback period by 15 working days, with the extraordinary motion failing and feedback closing on 31 May.

“I now call on the Mayor to allow for possible open meetings organised by the council on major local sticking points if deemed necessary by local elected representatives over the next few months. Despite my motion being passed by 15 members of the Auckland Plan Committee on 14 May to allow for further ‘open meetings’ after 31 May, the Mayor is now only promoting workshops for selective people behind closed doors.

“With notification increasingly likely to be happening post the election, the council now has the time to keep engaging with our concerned communities. The public does not want to be shut out of the decision-making process over the next few months and doesn’t have to be given the Mayor is now seemingly taking his foot off the accelerator,” says Cameron Brewer.
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