NPS-UD: Auckland Council's Timeline for Responding
By Iain McManus
Auckland Council has a number of workstreams underway in response to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development ("NPS-UD").
The purpose of this blog is to give you an overview of that work and its timing (to the extent currently known).
Intensification Plan Change
The NPS-UD requires Council to enable intensification in certain locations (see my blog of 29 June and subsequent blog of 4 August for more detail).
At the time of writing, Council proposes the following programme:
1. Initial policy formulation completed by the end of February 2022, including:
- Street by street survey of special character areas within walking distance of the city centre, metropolitan centres and rapid transit stops – by end of 2021;
- Street by street survey of special character areas in all other areas – by end of February 2022.
2. Consultation completed by end of June 2022, including:
- Workshops with the Planning Committee, local boards and mana whenua – from October 2021 to early 2022;
- Engagement with other stakeholders and the general public – in March or April 2022 (a relatively short timeframe);
- Further workshops with the Planning Committee, local boards and mana whenua – May and June 2022.
3. Public notification of the proposed plan change by 20 August 2022.
Removal of Parking Minimums
As noted in my earlier blog, the NPS-UD requires Council to remove minimum parking requirements from the Unitary Plan by 20 February 2022.
Council proposes to bring a report on this to the Planning Committee in September 2021.
The NPS-UD requires this change to be made without a plan change.
Regional Policy Statement
The Planning Committee resolved on 1 July 2021 to prepare a change to the regional policy statement to include a new policy on reducing greenhouse gases and to set out criteria for the assessment of private plan change requests to add significant development capacity.
The Council has not yet published a programme for this work.
Housing Capacity Assessment
The NPS-UD requires Council to prepare a housing capacity assessment (“HCA”) to quantify the development capacity required to meet expected demand for housing over the short term, medium term and long term.
The HCA was supposed to be signed off by 31 July 2021 but as of the time of writing is yet to be released.
Business Capacity Assessment
The NPS-UD requires Council to prepare a business capacity assessment to quantify the development capacity required to meet expected demand for business land or floor area over the short term, medium term and long term.
This work must be completed in time to inform the Council’s 2024 Long Term Plan. The Council has not yet published a programme for this work.
Future Development Strategy
The NPS-UD requires Council to prepare a future development strategy to achieve well-functioning urban environments in its existing and future urban areas and provide at least sufficient development capacity to meet expected demand for housing and business land over the long term.
This work must be completed in time to inform the Council’s 2024 Long Term Plan. The Council has not yet published a programme for this work.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to review the potential implications of the NPS-UD on your property.
