Parts of Botany and Pakuranga could see proposed apartment zoning pulled back under options for Auckland’s housing intensification plan.
Auckland Council’s Policy, Planning and Development Committee endorsed two scenarios on 9 June for feedback from local boards and iwi authorities, after the Government cut Auckland’s minimum housing capacity requirement.
Councillor Richard Hills, who chairs the committee, said the decision was not itself a change to Proposed Plan Change 120.
“We’re taking forward two scenarios in detail so local boards and iwi authorities can compare both scenarios in detail and provide feedback to help inform any future decisions on potential changes to Plan Change 120,” Hills said.
“Both scenarios continue to focus on enabling more homes where they make the most sense for Aucklanders, in well-connected areas with strong access to jobs, public transport, and services.”
Two named transit corridors would lose proposed Terrace Housing and Apartment Building zoning under the options.
They are Botany to Manukau via Ormiston, and Howick to Botany via Meadowlands and Botany Road.
Botany Junction would lose its proposed apartment zoning.
The catchment around the Pakuranga bus station would drop from 10 storeys to six.
Scenario A meets the Government’s mandatory housing requirements for walkable catchments around the city centre, metropolitan centres, rapid transit stops and five Western Line train stations.
Much of the additional housing proposed in Plan Change 120 outside those areas would generally revert to the current Auckland Unitary Plan.
Scenario B retains the mandatory requirements while also enabling additional housing around some local centres and along frequent bus routes.
Hills said the zoning for around 85 per cent of Auckland’s urban area would remain unchanged from the 2016 Auckland Unitary Plan even under Scenario B.
The current Unitary Plan is estimated to provide capacity for about 1.2 million homes.
Scenario A is estimated at between 1.4 and 1.6 million, and Scenario B at between 1.5 and 1.7 million.
Hills said capacity was not a building target.
“It does not mean Auckland will build 1.4 million or 1.7 million homes,” he said.
Mayor Wayne Brown said he wanted a plan change that intensified in the right places.
“That means focussing on allowing more housing near stations that benefit the most from the CRL, and along frequent bus routes,” Brown said.
“It’s completely illogical that we would vote for intensifying along the train lines to the west, but not to the east.”
Not every councillor wanted to go that far.
Manurewa-Papakura councillor Daniel Newman moved to take only Scenario A, the more stripped-back option, out for feedback.
His amendment was defeated 12 votes to 10.
The plan change as notified drew more than 10,500 submissions across the region, generating 67,554 individual decisions requested.
Parliament cut the minimum housing capacity requirement from about two million to 1.4 million dwellings in April, through the Resource Management (Auckland Housing) Amendment Act 2026.
A further round of public submissions follows, before an Independent Hearings Panel holds hearings and makes recommendations.
Final decisions are due in mid-2027.
