Character Coalition flags ‘dirty dozen’ empty sites for housing, clashes with Chris Bishop over intensification plans
The Character Coalition has identified a “dirty dozen” sites lying empty around Kingsland and Mt Eden, where it claims more than a thousand homes could be built without touching the area’s kauri villas and bungalows.
The coalition of 60 heritage and community groups said the sites – some sitting empty for years, others overgrown with weeds and gorse – are within walking distance of railway stations and the busy Dominion Rd bus corridor, and zoned for intensification under existing rules.
Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes said when Housing Minister Chris Bishop began talking up Kingsland for 15-storey apartment buildings, the group discovered a surprising amount of empty land in and around the early suburb.
Among the empty holdings was a site on School Rd where Kāinga Ora has abandoned a 41-unit development, which Hughes claimed Bishop was responsible for stopping.
“It’s a bit hypocritical in our view that Chris Bishop is demanding private homes are made available for development but not allowing the development that was planned for social and affordable housing, which is the biggest need in Auckland.
“We would like him to develop what can be developed before he attacks the Special Character Areas [of villas and bungalows],” Hughes said.
Bishop said Hughes was factually incorrect, saying he does not make decisions about individual Kāinga Ora developments; the agency does.
“Decisions around what areas Special Character apply to are matters for the Auckland Council, not me. Rather than fire inaccurate broadsides at me, I encourage her to engage in the process underway,” said Bishop, referencing Plan Change 120 for greater intensification across the city.
Kāinga Ora had detailed plans for the School Rd site, where old units were demolished between December 2023 and January 2024.
A Kāinga Ora spokeswoman said a resource consent application for the School Rd development was withdrawn in February last year as part of a reset plan. It was assessing options for the future use of the site, she said.
The reset plan was a response to a Government directive to turn around Kāinga Ora’s finances, leading to scores of housing projects being canned.
Other sites on the “dirty dozen” list include the 1.2ha site on the corner of Balmoral and Dominion Rds, where The Warehouse operated until 2014, and despite a redevelopment plan, it remains empty and is used for car parking.
At another large site on the corner of Dominion and Valley Rds, Precinct Properties has launched a $160 million residential project called DOVA comprising 121 units. No contractor has been appointed for the job, expected to take two-and-a-half years.
Hughes said the Character Coalition supported development on main roads with good public transport, arguing those sites should be built to their full potential.
“It’s great to see Precinct progressing DOVA. We’re in favour of intensification when it’s done well and in the right places,” she said.
Hughes said developments could be done sympathetically with character buildings, as in Queensland, where design-led rules mean new development sits comfortably alongside character homes.
“We want to see cities rejuvenated and alive. We don’t want to see these empty sections with rubbish all over them and weeds growing. We want to see the city sympathetically developed.”
With Bishop currently scaling back the controversial Plan Change 120, including reducing the capacity for two million homes over several decades, Hughes supported calls to reduce the figure of two million houses and said she wanted good, evidence-based planning for the city.
“We would like the Special Character Areas to be reinstated as they were in the Unitary Plan, which protects those areas in the old suburbs,” she said.
The Character Coalition said across Auckland, Plan Change 120 would remove 4735, or 23%, of the 20,446 special-character properties in the Unitary Plan.
The Character Coalition was also keen to know what was happening with the 3.7ha of land for development around the new Maungawhau station for the City Rail Link (CRL).
Auckland Council infrastructure director Barry Potter said planning had begun for the urban renewal of the land between the new Maungawhau and Karanga-a-Hape stations.
A precinct masterplan outlined potential development for about 800 homes across 11 sites created by the CRL. On surrounding private land, there was capacity for a further 7800 homes over the next 20 years.
Potter could not say when shovels would be in the ground, saying once the land was handed over to the council by CRL Ltd, the council would be keen to see activity as soon as practicable.
A key focus would be ensuring the best possible value was realised from developing the land around the station, said Potter.
When the land is sold, the proceeds will return to the council and the Crown to help offset the $5.5 billion cost of building the CRL.
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