Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown accuses Ōrewa’s Delmore developers of sending ‘threatening’ letter
A war of words has broken out between Auckland’s mayor and developers behind a high-profile and controversial housing project north of Auckland.
Vineway Partners has been given the green light by the Government’s fast-track panel for the 1217-home Delmore development, just out of Ōrewa.
The Herald has run a series of articles reporting concerns from Wayne Brown, councillor Richard Hills, Watercare and residents about the proposal since it was given draft approval last month.
On July 23, Vineway’s lawyer wrote to Auckland Council, unhappy with comments made by Brown, Hills and Watercare chief executive Jamie Sinclair and asking them to correct their views.
In the letter, Vineway expressed concern about criticism of the development, saying Auckland Council had been heavily involved in the application process (as required by law).
Brown’s response was to call the legal letter’s contents “threatening and disturbing”.
“In my opinion, your letter attempts to discourage the duly elected members of Auckland Council from expressing these legitimate views, which strikes me as threatening and disturbing,” Brown’s response reads.
“I also reject the implication that comments made by me, Councillor Hills, or others were somehow uninformed simply because they differ from your client’s position.
“My colleagues and I are not obliged to accept your client’s vision for Auckland, which in our view would consign us to a future of more congestion, more unaffordable housing, and could lead to home owners paying thousands of dollars a year in levies to truck treated wastewater across the city and potentially to other regions.”
Vineway is a special-purpose development vehicle established by greenfield housing specialists Myland Partners.
The four-page letter to Auckland Council outlines concerns with comments made by Hills, Brown and Sinclair, calling them “factual inaccuracies” and saying it finds the views “challenging”.
Those complaints range from comments about water and wastewater supply to transport.
“Watercare Services Ltd has confirmed that practically speaking there is no physical barrier to connecting the Delmore project to the public network; even if the Delmore project is required to wait for planned water supply network upgrades, these are forecast to be completed by 2033, not 2050, and these upgrades will result in sufficient capacity to service the entire catchment,” the letter says.
“It is simply Auckland Council’s and Watercare Services Ltd’s current position that those connections should be reserved or banked for other Future Urban Zone land.
“For completeness, I note that Vineway Ltd has also repeatedly offered to work with Watercare Services Ltd to determine how it might financially contribute to its infrastructure upgrades, but those offers have not been responded to.”
It goes on to say: “I request to meet with you to discuss your intended plan for correcting the erroneous statements made by Brown, Hills and Sinclair, the related, wider erroneous inference regarding Auckland Council’s involvement in and view of the Delmore project, to understand what can be expected regarding Auckland Council’s approach to the Delmore project going forward, and to arrange a site visit.”
The Herald understands the mayor described the letter as threatening partly because it was sent by the company’s lawyers, rather than the developer.
“I’m not a lawyer, but it was seen to be a threat about not saying anything opposing the project,” Brown told the Herald.
“I think suggesting that a mayor can’t comment on something which is going to take place in their city in an area where Watercare, which is one of our subsidiaries, has said they don’t want to have a bar of it for years, and then the Government overrule it, is outrageous.”
In his letter of reply, Brown said the developers have mixed up the role of staff and politicians.
“I reject the suggestion that Auckland Council’s elected representatives need to ‘correct’ their views on the Delmore project simply because the applicant disagrees with them,” Brown’s letter says.
“Council officers have undertaken technical assessments as part of the fast-track process and have engaged professionally with the applicant. That is their job.
“My job, and that of democratically elected members, is to ask whether a development is in Auckland’s best interests and whether it is sensible to approve large-scale growth ahead of the infrastructure needed to support it.”
Hills said he also stood by his comments.
Watercare said it would leave commentary to Auckland Council, but noted its significant opposition to the project is laid bare in the fast-track application documentation.
“Our position on the Delmore proposal has been consistent and is documented in our submission on this development,” Watercare acting chief strategy and planning officer Tim Scheirlinck said.
“Watercare has a significant amount of infrastructure work underway in Auckland to support growth across the region – in order to provide certainty this is planned long in advance.
“Our infrastructure planning and investment programmes do not include servicing of the area where this development is planned until after 2050, consistent with Auckland Council’s Future Development Strategy.”
Asked whether he would “correct” his position on the project, Brown laughed.
“Really? So 180,000 people voted for me and know my views on things and one person who has managed to fool a government department thinks they have the right to decide what I can and can’t say? What is this, Russia? In Russia you have more freedom of speech than that.
“It’s just a stupid thing to do, to say a subdivision needs to have sewage trucked away.”
Brown said Watercare and the council had made it clear where growth can and should go, and who should pay for it.
“Auckland has a growth strategy for a reason. Ratepayers should not be expected to subsidise developments and carry the risks associated with them proceeding ahead of infrastructure delivery.
“Auckland has spent decades dealing with the consequences of growth getting ahead of infrastructure. I make no apology for questioning proposals that risk repeating those mistakes.”
Andrew Allsopp-Smith, from Myland Partners, sent a lengthy reply to questions from the Herald, saying “independent economic analysis puts Delmore’s benefit to the region at approximately $1.23 billion in economic activity”.
He responded to Watercare, which has said in all documentation to the fast-track panel that it will not have the ability to connect to the site for decades.
Allsopp-Smith said Delmore’s consent will allow for a privately funded, on-site wastewater treatment plant.
“The consent includes a contingency allowing treated wastewater to be transported off site, but only if a public network connection is unavailable at a given stage of development, and only for roughly three months over summer.
“At full occupancy of the first stage, this would mean an average of about five truckloads a day – for three months of the year, and only if no network connection exists.”
Allsopp-Smith said the developers had begun initial conversations with Whangārei District Council about trucking the wastewater north but no contracts have been signed or locations confirmed.
“The public debate has fixed on the wrong question,” Allsopp-Smith said.
“The question is not whether Delmore should proceed – an independent expert panel has assessed that. The question is why Auckland’s water utility cannot service land the Government has identified as a housing priority until 2050, and why a developer offering to pay for the solution is treated as the problem.”
No meeting had been held between the parties, but Allsopp-Smith said he’d welcome it.
Brown has also criticised the fast-track law, saying the Delmore approval makes a “mockery” of it.
“The fast-track is just another disaster from the Government – they’ve got eight years to do something with it. What’s fast about that?” Brown told the Herald.
“If they build it within six months, it’s fast-track, I’ve got no problem with it. But fast-track to these [developments] eight years away, is just taking away council’s job.”
Vineway Ltd plans to build 1217 homes, a commercial area, two neighbourhood parks, a network of protected ecological areas and construct a State Highway 1 interchange.
In approving the project, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said it would contribute $1.2 billion to the local economy over 25 years.
“Given constraints on existing public infrastructure, the applicant has proposed privately providing water supply and wastewater services through facilities designed to meet the development’s needs and allow for future expansion,” Bishop says.
“For the first stage of the development, wastewater will be treated and discharged on site, with treated wastewater transported off site during summer periods when necessary.
“Before the second stage of the development can proceed, the applicant will be required to obtain further approvals for a long-term wastewater solution, including on-site disposal, continued transport off site, or connection to the public network if capacity becomes available.”
Brown urged Bishop to backtrack.
“Everything about that is amateur, pathetic, and stupid,” Brown said.
“I’m just hoping that the Government realises they got this wrong.”
He believed the council and Watercare would end up picking up issues with water and transport down the track.
Neighbour Jon Mason previously told the Herald he was worried about the environmental impact of the development.
Auckland Council is now considering its options.
But there are limited appeal options due to the nature of the fast-track law.
“I’m just going to appeal to the Government and say, ‘this is beyond stupid. You’ve got it wrong’,” Brown says.
Delmore is the 30th fast-track project to be approved under the regime, about half of which are housing developments.
Residents in other parts of the country are also upset about fast-track developments, including in Waimauku West and Queenstown.
Katie Bradford is a Senior Correspondent at the Herald. She has been a broadcast journalist for over 20 years and was based in the press gallery for 10 years. She specialises in politics, business and Auckland issues.