On 29 November 2024, Property Council submitted to Auckland Council on their Draft Southern Rural Strategy.
Why this matters to our members
This is important to our members as it directs the long-term management of growth and development in the southern rural areas of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. It is a sub-regional spatial strategy, which complements the regional direction set out in the Future Development Strategy 2023-2053. Rural means all land outside the Rural Urban Boundary and includes all settlements in the full Franklin Local Board plus small adjacent areas of rural land within the Howick and Papakura Local Boards. All areas with current urban zoning and future urban development of the Drury and Pukekohe/Paerātā areas are also included in the context of their role in supporting rural settlements now and in the future.
Our view
We broadly support the Draft Strategy’s goal of achieving “growth in the right place and at the right time.” However, we do not think the Draft Strategy goes far enough to achieve this goal. Instead, we recommend a high growth scenario to better align with the Government’s Going for Housing Growth policy.
At a high level, we recommended that Auckland Council:
- Amend its Draft Strategy to ‘high’ growth predictions to meet the Government’s Going for Housing Growth policy;
- Must be an active strategic partner and bring together key partners (including private developers) to identify/map development opportunities and growth constraints and to ensure greater coordination and certainty around the delivery of growth infrastructure;
- Has a strategic understanding of how its own and central government policies collectively impact growth;
- Allow developers to respond to local housing market demand when zoning areas for development;
- Makes full use of funding and financing mechanisms available to it to pay for infrastructure in a way that enables growth;
- Zone areas for higher growth (e.g. close to strategic transport networks), for example in the Drury and Pukekohe/Paerātā area; and
- Continues its engagement with the Property Council to develop and implement the Draft Strategy.