About 450 people packed a public meeting on Plan Change 120 in the Prime Minister’s Botany electorate on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said some at the meeting had voted National all their lives, but they had warned: \u201cYou can forget us voting for this lot again if they stick with this ridiculous number\u201d.<\/p>\n
Williamson, who is now one of two Auckland councillors for the Howick ward, said nearly everyone at the meeting was okay with more intensification along major transport corridors and town centres, but expressed anger at extending intensification into suburban streets.<\/p>\n
He warned this would produce one-off monstrosities without car parks, forcing cars onto the street<\/a> and eroding the value of existing homes. Inevitably, future plan changes might pull the rules back, but the damage would already be done.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Brown said plans for a new transport corridor between Howick Village and Meadowlands, zoned for apartments under Plan Change 120, \u201cmake no sense at all\u201d.<\/p>\n He described the route as \u201cquiet suburban streets far from major transport links\u201d.<\/p>\n He encouraged everyone in East Auckland to make a submission before the December 19 deadline, saying he expected Plan Change 120 would change as a result of the submissions received.<\/p>\n Williamson said there was no reason for the two million dwelling figure, saying it came from Labour enabling three homes of up to three storeys on most residential sites in Auckland.<\/p>\n He wants the two\u202fmillion figure reduced to 1.5\u202fmillion, arguing that Bishop would still secure necessary intensification along transport corridors<\/a> and town centres, without further encroaching on property values already undermined by poor-quality developments.<\/p>\n Williamson noted that National secured 45% of the party vote in Auckland at the 2023 election, compared with 35% across the rest of the country. He warned that unless Bishop pulled back, the party risked losing support in blue-ribbon seats at next year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n A statement from Bishop\u2019s office gave no sign of the minister reducing the two million dwellings figure to 1.5 million.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no requirement in the legislation to build two million dwellings. The statutory obligation is for Auckland Council to enable the same level of capacity as Plan Change 78 \u2026 that provided capacity for roughly two million homes.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement said Plan Change 120 provided the same overall capacity as Plan Change 78, <\/a>but gave the council greater flexibility in deciding where and how that capacity was delivered, while significantly down-zoning suburban areas compared with Plan Change 78.<\/p>\n Bishop, who is running National\u2019s campaign at next year\u2019s election, did not comment on concerns Plan Change 120 could cost National party votes.<\/p>\n Bo Burns, the other councillor in Howick, supports Williamson\u2019s call to roll back the two million housing figure to 1.5 million.<\/p>\n She said it was becoming clear to people that the two million figure was a Government directive. It was not just upsetting people in East Auckland, but in other National strongholds like \u014cr\u0101kei, Mt Eden and Franklin, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone rang me the other day and said they had been a big financial supporter of the National Party for many years, and had resigned over the two million directive in Plan Change 120.\u201d<\/p>\nChristopher Luxon’s office: – “we will politely decline your request for comment. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
RMA Minister Chris Bishop is showing no signs of pulling back the two million figure.
\nPhoto \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\nHowick councillor Bo Burns, pictured at Tuesday’s meeting, said there are whispers within the National Party that Plan Change 120 is not going ahead.<\/p>\n