Responsibilities
This committee will lead the implementation of the Auckland
Plan, including the integration of economic, social, environmental and cultural
objectives for Auckland for the next 30 years. It will guide the physical
development and growth of Auckland through a focus on land use planning,
housing and the appropriate provision of infrastructure and strategic projects
associated with these activities. Key responsibilities include:
·
Unitary Plan
·
Plan changes to operative plans
·
Designation of Special Housing Areas
·
Housing policy and projects including Papakainga housing
·
Spatial Plans including Area Plans
·
City centre development (incl reporting of CBD advisory board)
and city transformation projects
·
Tamaki regeneration projects
·
Built Heritage
·
Urban design
Powers
(i) All powers necessary to
perform the committee’s responsibilities.
Except:
(a) powers that the Governing Body
cannot delegate or has retained to itself (see Governing Body responsibilities)
(b) where the committee’s
responsibility is explicitly limited to making a recommendation only
(ii) Approval of a submission to an
external body
(iii) Powers belonging to another
committee, where it is necessary to make a decision prior to the next meeting
of that other committee.
(iv) Power
to establish subcommittees.
Exclusion of the public – who needs to
leave the meeting
Members of the public
All members of the public must leave the
meeting when the public are excluded unless a resolution is passed permitting a
person to remain because their knowledge will assist the meeting.
Those who are not members of the public
General principles
·
Access to confidential information is managed on a “need to know”
basis where access to the information is required in order for a person to
perform their role.
·
Those who are not members of the meeting (see list below) must
leave unless it is necessary for them to remain and hear the debate in order to
perform their role.
·
Those who need to be present for one confidential item can remain
only for that item and must leave the room for any other confidential items.
·
In any case of doubt, the ruling of the chairperson is final.
Members of the meeting
·
The members of the meeting remain (all Governing Body members if
the meeting is a Governing Body meeting; all members of the committee if the
meeting is a committee meeting).
·
However, standing orders require that a councillor who has a
pecuniary conflict of interest leave the room.
·
All councillors have the right to attend any meeting of a
committee and councillors who are not members of a committee may remain,
subject to any limitations in standing orders.
Independent Māori Statutory Board
·
Members of the Independent Māori
Statutory Board who are appointed members of the committee remain.
·
Independent Māori Statutory Board
members and staff remain if this is necessary in order for them to perform
their role.
Staff
·
All staff supporting the meeting (administrative, senior
management) remain.
·
Other staff who need to because of their role may remain.
Local Board members
·
Local Board members who need to hear the matter being discussed
in order to perform their role may remain. This will usually be if the matter
affects, or is relevant to, a particular Local Board area.
Council Controlled Organisations
·
Representatives of a Council Controlled Organisation can remain
only if required to for discussion of a matter relevant to the Council Controlled
Organisation.
At the close of
the agenda no apologies had been received.
2 Declaration of Interest
Members are
reminded of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from decision making when a
conflict arises between their role as a member and any private or other
external interest they might have.
3 Confirmation of Minutes
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That the Auckland Development Committee:
a)
confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting,
held on Thursday, 10 March 2016 and the extraordinary
minutes of its meeting, held on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, including the
confidential section, as a true and correct record.
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4 Petitions
At the close of
the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received.
5 Public Input
Standing Order
7.7 provides for Public Input. Applications to speak must be made to the
Democracy Advisor, in writing, no later than one (1) clear working day
prior to the meeting and must include the subject matter. The meeting
Chairperson has the discretion to decline any application that does not meet
the requirements of Standing Orders. A maximum of thirty (30) minutes
is allocated to the period for public input with five (5) minutes
speaking time for each speaker.
At the close of
the agenda no requests for public input had been received.
6 Local Board Input
Standing Order
6.2 provides for Local Board Input. The Chairperson (or nominee of that
Chairperson) is entitled to speak for up to five (5) minutes during this
time. The Chairperson of the Local Board (or nominee of that Chairperson)
shall wherever practical, give one (1) day’s notice of their wish to
speak. The meeting Chairperson has the discretion to decline any application
that does not meet the requirements of Standing Orders.
This right is
in addition to the right under Standing Order 6.1 to speak to matters on the
agenda.
At the close of
the agenda no requests for local board input had been received.
7 Extraordinary Business
Section 46A(7)
of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended)
states:
“An item that is
not on the agenda for a meeting may be dealt with at that meeting if-
(a) The local authority by resolution so decides; and
(b) The presiding member explains at the meeting, at a time
when it is open to the public,-
(i) The
reason why the item is not on the agenda; and
(ii) The reason why the discussion of the item cannot be
delayed until a subsequent meeting.”
Section 46A(7A)
of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (as amended)
states:
“Where an item
is not on the agenda for a meeting,-
(a) That item may be discussed at that meeting if-
(i) That item is a minor matter relating to the general
business of the local authority; and
(ii) the presiding member explains at the beginning of the
meeting, at a time when it is open to the public, that the item will be
discussed at the meeting; but
(b) no resolution, decision or recommendation may be made in
respect of that item except to refer that item to a subsequent meeting of the
local authority for further discussion.”
8 Notices of Motion
At the close of
the agenda no requests for notices of motion had been received.
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Auckland
Development Committee
13 April 2016
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Information
meetings on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan
File No.: CP2016/05397
Purpose
1. To present a
programme of information meetings on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP)
between April and July 2016.
Executive
Summary
2. Unique
legislative arrangements control the submission, hearings process and
decision-making relating to the first Unitary Plan for Auckland. The timeframe
for council decision-making under those unique arrangements is 20 working days
from receipt of the Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel’s
recommendations.
3. In light of
this extremely truncated timeframe and the scale and complexity of issues
relating to the PAUP, the unusual step of scheduling regular information
meetings has been taken. These meetings are timetabled from April to 22 July
2016 (the date the council expects to receive the Panel’s recommendations).
Although no decisions will be sought at these meetings, they are to be public
meetings.
4. On 8 December
2015, the committee endorsed a focus on topics that will have a significant
impact on the ability of the PAUP to deliver on the priorities in the Auckland
Plan. The information meetings will cover those specified topics, summarise key issues raised in
submissions, identify positions adopted by the council in response to issues
raised during the hearings and outline the legislative framework for decision
making under the Act.[1].
5. There is
unlikely to be a practical opportunity to repeat the content of these
information meetings after the Panel delivers its recommendations to the
council. However, the substantive information is relevant to informed
decision-making within the 20 working day statutory time frame.
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Recommendation/s
That the Auckland Development
Committee:
a) note the report
does not make any recommendations.
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Comments
Background
6. Unique
legislative arrangements were established to enable Auckland’s first Unitary
Plan to make the journey from public notification to operative at a faster pace
than would normally occur under the Resource Management Act. The arrangements
are set out in the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2013
(the Act) and involved the establishment of an independent panel (the Auckland
Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel) tasked with hearing the submissions on
the PAUP and making recommendations to the council. Without these arrangements,
it is highly likely the PAUP would take several more years to become operative.
If that happened, Auckland’s planning framework would become incredibly complex
and outdated, with a wide range of associated costs to the council and the
community.
7. The Panel is
required under the legislation to release its recommendations to the council no
later than 22 July 2016. The Panel will have spent 22 months reviewing written
submissions, scheduling mediations and expert witness conferencing and hearing
in person from submitters, and writing its recommendations, reasons for them
and completing the relevant analysis.
8. The council is
then required to decide whether to accept or reject each recommendation. The
council has 20 working days to do so (i.e. until 19 August 2016). That
timeframe could be extended up to a maximum of 20 further working days (i.e. 16
September 2016), but only if the Minister for the Environment, at his
discretion, agrees to an extension.
Information meetings
9. The Act
specifies that the council has 20 working days to consider the Panel’s
recommendations and to notify its decisions on the PAUP.
10. To help
prioritise the council’s response to the Panel’s recommendations, on 8 December
2015 the committee endorsed a focus on topics that will have a significant
impact on the ability of the PAUP to deliver on the priorities in the Auckland
Plan.
11. These topics are
as follows:
i. The Regional Policy Statement
ii. Business
iii. Coastal and
Port precinct
iv. Historic
Heritage
v. Infrastructure
vi. Landscapes
vii. Māori land
and treaty
viii. Mana Whenua
sites
ix. Natural hazards
and flooding
x. Residential
xi. Rural
xii. Rural Urban
Boundary
xiii. Significant
Ecological Areas
xiv. Special
character and pre-1944
xv. Sustainable
design
xvi. Transport
xvii. Viewshafts
xviii. Waitakere Ranges
xix. Zoning.
12. To assist the
council in its consideration of the Panel’s recommendations, a series of
presentations to the committee over the next few months will provide elected
members with information on the council’s position on the PAUP presented to the
Panel during the hearings on the above topics.
13. The
presentations will provide a summary of the notified PAUP, together with the
submitters’ and the council’s position presented to the Panel at the hearing.
The schedule of topics for each meeting is set out in Attachment A.
Decision-making
14. The
council will receive the Panel’s recommendations on the PAUP at the latest on
Friday 22 July 2016. The Panel will deliver a recommendations report that
outlines its overall process and approach, broad directions and reasons for any
changes to the structure of the PAUP, and any major policy shifts and the
reasons for these. The Panel will also provide a clean version of the
recommended text of the PAUP and a clean version of the recommended maps
created in a GIS viewer.
15. Staff
will devote the first four days after receiving the recommendations report to
quickly identifying any key areas where the Panel’s recommendations do not
align with the council’s position at the hearings. On Wednesday 27 July, a
confidential briefing will be given to elected members. The purpose of this
briefing is to provide elected members with a general understanding of any key
policy and/or structural changes recommended by the Panel, and to explain how to
navigate the documentation provided in the Panel’s recommendations. A link to
the Panel’s recommendations (text, maps and recommendations report) will be
provided to elected members at this briefing.
16. To
further assist elected members navigate and understand the Panel’s
recommendations, “drop in” sessions will be available with the council’s
planners on Wednesday 3 August and Thursday 4 August 2016.
17. The
council is scheduled to meet on 16, 17 and 18 August to determine the council’s
decisions in response to the Panel’s recommendations.
18. The Act
specifies that the council must decide whether to accept or reject each Panel
recommendation. If a Panel recommendation is rejected, the council must provide
reasons, the alternative provisions it supports and an analysis under section
32 of the Resource Management Act.
19. Alternative
provisions must be within scope of submissions and must be based on material
that was presented to the Panel at the hearings. That is, the council does not
have the ability to present alternative provisions other than those:
a) in the notified
PAUP; or
b) presented in the
council’s position at the hearings; or
c) presented in
another submitter’s evidence.
20. As
outlined in the report to the committee on the 8 December 2016, three important factors to consider when assessing the Panel’s
recommendations are:
a) to ensure the
council meets the statutory timeframe for releasing its decision;
b) to ensure the
decision version of the PAUP continues to deliver on the priorities in the
Auckland Plan; and
c) to ensure the
overall integrity of the PAUP remains intact, and that any provisions that are
rejected by the council are replaced with provisions that seamlessly integrate
with the rest of the PAUP.
Rejecting
recommendations from the Panel
21. The Act
establishes a process and a timeline to ensure that submissions on the PAUP are
considered from an independent perspective and that the council delivers its
decision on the Panel’s recommendations within a very tight timeframe.
22. The Act also
limits appeals to the Environment Court on the council’s decision version of
the PAUP to situations where:
a) the council has
accepted a recommendation that is beyond the scope of submissions and the
person wishing to appeal is unduly prejudiced by the council’s decision; or
b) the council has
rejected a recommendation from the Panel.
23. It is important
to note that rejecting a provision or a policy approach in the Panel’s
recommended version of the PAUP could have a significant impact on the overall
integration of the PAUP and delay the PAUP from becoming operative. For
example, if the council rejected a provision in the Regional Policy Statement
chapter of the PAUP, then this could not only affect the related regional and
district plan provisions, but could delay a large component of the PAUP from
becoming operative.
24. Delaying the
PAUP from becoming operative could also have significant cost implications for
the council through lengthy appeal processes, as well as even more significant
costs for the community in having to continue working under Auckland’s legacy
planning framework and the PAUP while the appeals are in place.
25. In light of the
above, while the Act clearly provides the opportunity for the council to reject
recommendations from the Panel, it is critical that the council takes a
rigorous approach to the task of considering the recommendations, and carefully
weighs up all relevant matters when considering the possibility of rejecting
the Panel’s recommendations.
Consideration
Local
Board views and implications
26. Local boards
have played an important role in developing the PAUP. Throughout the process, workshops have been held with local
boards, and local board chairs have been invited to attend all relevant
committee workshops and meetings. Views from local boards on the notified
version of the PAUP were also
included in the local board section of the council submission. All local boards
who provided views in the council submission were informed of the topics going
into the hearings and given the opportunity to present their views to the Panel
(in situations where their views differed from that of the Governing Body).
27. Local Board
chairs will be invited to the information sessions on
the PAUP scheduled from April to July 2016.
Māori impact statement
28. A high level of
engagement has occurred between the council and Mana Whenua in developing the
PAUP. Mana Whenua are in general agreement that the PAUP takes an important
step forward in terms of planning under the Resource Management Act in
Auckland. The process of developing the PAUP has fostered a partnership between
the council and Mana Whenua. This is reflected in the ongoing work being
carried out by the council in relation to Cultural Impact Assessments and sites
of significance to Mana Whenua.
29. The Independent Māori Statutory
Board and all 19 Mana Whenua groups made submissions on the PAUP. These
submissions supported the overall approach and suggested amendments to lift the
responsiveness of the PAUP to Māori and Mana Whenua. Most Mana Whenua
groups have been active participants in the hearings process.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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aView
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Unitary Plan Milestones - April to September 2016
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13
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Signatories
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Author
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John Duguid - General Manager - Plans and Places
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Authorisers
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Penny Pirrit - Director Regulatory Services
Jim Quinn - Chief of Strategy
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