Auckland rezoning row will decide October elections

[Statement from David Thornton]

Tomorrow’s Extraordinary Auckland Council meeting could have a major impact on the October Council election.

The meeting is to decide for or against Council’s controversial proposal to rezone tens of thousands homes across Auckland without the normal legally required consultation.

The latest information is that 13 councillors are against the proposal, and the remaining 7 members, plus the Mayor, are in favour – a clear majority to reject the rezoning proposal.

At tomorrow’s meeting Council officials are expected to bring forward strong arguments to support their views that the rezoning is vital to the progress of the Proposed Unitary Plan through the Independent Hearings Plan which is currently holding public hearings on rezoning issues.

The problem for council officials is that the current proposals in the Unitary Plan do not provide for about 400,000 new homes in Auckland to meet expected population growth over the next 30 years. The officials are saying that it must prove to the Hearings Panel how that target can be met.

Ratepayers affected by this rezoning point out that these proposals were in the Draft Unitary Plan and were rejected by the Council itself after a huge public outcry against them.

If the rezoning proposal is rejected it will not be presented to the Independent Hearings Panel and that Panel will then need to make recommendations based on those zonings in the Proposed Unitary Plan.

The Panel must make its recommendations by 22 July this year, after which the Council must either accept or decline those recommendations.

Those Council decisions could well decide the make-up of the new Council to bt held in October.

ENDS

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