An Update on Auckland Intensification
Spokesperson McRae
Higher Density Coming to 113 Devonport properties.
A further 135 lose their heritage protection.
What’s Happened
On 18 August Auckland Council released Plan Change 78 which enacts the government’s new intensification laws.
Although much of Devonport remains a Special Character Area we estimate 113 properties have been rezoned Mixed Housing Urban which allows 3 storey/3 dwelling intensive development.
This means 3 houses up to 12 metres high, can be built to one metre of the rear and side boundaries.
These properties are scattered around Devonport and we believe it will seriously impact the heritage qualities of this highly historic area.
Plan Change also deletes another 135 houses from the Special Character Area and they will be zoned Low Density Residential which means a height limit of 2 storeys.
While we support that Plan Change 78 continues the character protections for most of Devonport, allowing large clusters of intensive development will ruin the heritage areas of some streets.
One example is 8 houses on one side of Oxford Terrace in Cheltenham have been rezoned for intensification despite it being a high-quality heritage street.
Another is properties on the corner of Empire Road and Allenby Avenue can have 3 storey blocks despite Allenby Avenue being a show-home street of heritage houses.
Devonport is a very small, cohesive suburb and 113 areas of intensive development will disrupt and ruin the heritage character of some streets and the collective historic value of the whole area.
Which Areas Can be Intensified?
(to three stories/3 dwellings)
47 to 85 Stanley Point Rd (19 properties)
22 to 38 Oxford Terrace (8)
21 & 23 Cambria Rd (2)
Part of Ariho Tce/cnr Lake Rd and 2 to 34 of Empire Road up to corner of Allenby Ave (25)
Part of Abbotsford Road/ Lake Road/Mozeley Ave (12)
177 – 183 Vauxhall Rd & 2-10 Turnbull Rd (20)
33 – 55 Vauxhall Road plus 30 & 32 (12 properties opposite and beside rugby grounds)
21-24 King Edward Parade, 3-5 Church St (15 properties behind and beside the Masonic apartments).
Other Areas That Lose their SCA protections
(rezoned Low Density Residential, 2 storey)
Cheltenham Beach properties between Rata Rd and Oxford Tce
18-22 Cambria St and 13 Grahame St
3-25 Ariho Tce
11-19 Beaconsfield St
15-22 King Edward Tce
65-81 Stanley Pt Rd
What This Means
The Mixed Housing Urban zone allows buildings to cover 50% of the site to one metre of the side and rear boundaries, and the height to boundary rule is 4 metres with a recession plane of 60 degrees. There are no design requirements for new buildings to fit in with the heritage area.
Some of the houses rezoned are not heritage houses but the effects of tall, modern, block houses, built close to boundaries, could have an enormous impact on the heritage values of all the houses around them and on the area as a whole.
However much of Devonport has crucial overlays that can restrict development. Most important is the Height Sensitive Area around Mt Victoria and North Head that keeps heights to 9 metres.
The water and wastewater constraints on Devonport also means that development of more than one dwelling per property requires a resource consent. Some properties also have other qualifying matters that attract a resource consent requirement, such as coastal erosion or inundation.
Historic Heritage Plan Change 81
There is another plan change happening – no 81 - that refers to changes to the Devonport buildings and landmarks listed on the Schedule of Historic Heritage places.
We agree with most of these but will submit that we want the Victoria Road business area to be made an Historic Heritage Area.
This will raise the status of the beautiful Victorian and Edwardian buildings in the main road that are such an integral part of Devonport’s identity.
What Now
The public has until 29 September to make submissions to the Independent Hearings Panel that will decide whether the proposed city-wide changes should proceed.
It is therefore hugely important that you make submissions to let the Panel know what the people of Devonport and Auckland want for the future of the city.
What We Are Doing
Devonport Heritage is working on a submission that will support the positive parts of Plan Change 78 and highlight the parts we want changed.
We are working on this with a resource management planner, lawyer and heritage architect. We will also put out a guide for people who want to make a submission.
Our Submission Will Ask the Independent Hearing Panel to:
Remove the Mixed Housing Urban from most of the areas of Devonport where it is proposed
Remove the Policy 3d zone from the residential area surrounding the Devonport Town Centre
Get clarity around the new Low Density Residential Zone that is the underlying zone for Devonport
Retain the other overlays that protect important Devonport features.
Make the Victoria Road business area a Historic Heritage Area
What You Can Do
1) Make a submission.
Look out for our guide to make a submission that we will send out and put on our website in the next week. The deadline is 29 September. It is vitally important that we get plenty of submissions from Devonport to show that local people value their heritage and want it protected.
2) View your property details.
Go to Plan Change 78 map viewer, find “Devonport” and zoom in on your area.
You must apply the ‘Layers’ icon on the left and
click on Special Character Residential overlay, Coastal inundation & Erosion and Regional Maunga viewshafts
Then read the ‘Legend’ to show what the colours mean. If you click on your property it will come up with all the overlays that apply to your house.
And there is a YouTube video on how to do it. It is actually quite fun when you get the hang of it!
3) Make a donation
Make a donation to Devonport Heritage to support the ongoing work we do. To do this and for more information go to Donations.
