Urban Development News from the media | 17 June 2025 | Saying yes to more housing

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Hi *|FNAME|*, Please find below Urban Development News from the media from the week of 17 June 2025.

Provided by Rockhopper Development Management & Property Advisory, a member of:                             
  
                

The Christchurch Precedent: Central Government Enforces National Intensification Agenda

In a decision with national implications, the Coalition Government has unequivocally asserted its authority over local planning, establishing a firm precedent that will resonate across every high-growth council in New Zealand. In early June 2025, Minister for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, decisively rejected the majority of Christchurch City Council's proposed alternatives to the national housing density rules, effectively ending the council's multi-year, multi-million-dollar attempt to create a bespoke intensification plan for the city.   

The decision relates to the council's Plan Change 14, its response to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) and the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS). These national directives, introduced with bipartisan support in 2021, mandate greater housing density in major urban centres to address the housing crisis. After initially resisting the national standards in 2022, Christchurch City Council went through a protracted process involving an independent hearings panel. While the council accepted many of the panel's recommendations for greater density in December 2024, it referred 20 points of contention to the Minister, seeking specific carve-outs. Minister Bishop rejected 17 of these.   

Key among the rejected council proposals were attempts to mandate lower building heights than the MDRS allows (citing concerns over sunlight access, a campaign that used the slogan "stop daylight robbery"), and to limit high-density development in the key suburban hubs of Riccarton, Linwood, and Hornby. These suburbs, with their significant commercial centres and existing amenities, were identified as having high potential for intensification. The Minister's decision enforces the panel's original recommendations, allowing for building heights of up to 14 metres in commercial centres and enabling significant intensification in walking catchments around shopping centres and transport routes. The Minister did, however, approve some of the council's more strategic suggestions, such as allowing further intensification around designated suburban centres like Barrington in Spreydon.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/563349/kick-in-the-guts-government-knocks-back-most-of-christchurch-council-s-housing-plans

A National Agenda for Growth: Unpacking the Government's Sweeping Planning Reforms

Concurrent with its decisive action in Christchurch, the government has unveiled the broader strategic framework behind its interventionist approach: a sweeping overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA) designed to fundamentally shift New Zealand's planning philosophy from one of managing effects to one that presumes a right to develop. The suite of changes, recently agreed by Cabinet and announced by Minister Chris Bishop, represents the government's signature policy response to the housing crisis and aims to "flood the market" with land for development.   

The reforms are multi-faceted and attack perceived barriers to development on several fronts. A cornerstone of the new approach is the requirement for the 24 councils representing New Zealand's largest cities to zone for 30 years of housing growth. This is a monumental shift from previous requirements and mandates that this land be "live-zoned" for "feasible development capacity," meaning it must be commercially viable for a developer to build on immediately.   

In a direct assault on a long-standing tool of urban containment, the government will abolish the ability of councils to set fixed urban-rural boundaries in their planning documents. While councils can still zone land for rural use, they will no longer be able to impose hard regulatory lines that constrain city expansion. This is intended to free up more land on the urban fringe for development.   
 

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/saying-yes-more-housing

The Reality Check: Auckland's Water Infrastructure Defines Development Boundaries

The theoretical freedom offered by the government's planning reforms collided with hard physical reality on June 11, 2025, when Watercare, Auckland's water utility, released updated network capacity maps. These maps, first published in late 2024 after development was abruptly halted in some areas due to wastewater constraints , provide the most definitive and non-negotiable guide to where development can and cannot occur in New Zealand's largest city.   

Responding to what it called a "misperception" that constrained areas were entirely closed for development, Watercare updated the map's labelling to provide more nuanced guidance. The maps now divide the city into three key categories, each with significant implications for developers:   

  • Area with capacity: In these zones, the bulk infrastructure (large pipes and treatment plants) generally has the capacity to support growth. Development can proceed, though local, street-level pipe bottlenecks may still exist.   
  • Area with capacity closely monitored: This is a new category introduced to provide greater transparency. It includes new zones such as Glendowie, Otāhuhu, East Tāmaki/Flat Bush, and the affluent Epsom/Newmarket/Remuera area. While bulk infrastructure is generally sufficient, Watercare is monitoring these areas closely due to issues like frequent wastewater overflows or potential future limitations in the water supply network. Critically, Watercare has stated that some larger developments in these zones may be declined at the resource consent stage, depending on their location and impact.   
  • Area with limited capacity: In these areas, the bulk infrastructure is significantly constrained, often evidenced by more than six wastewater overflows per location per year. Development is strictly limited to the equivalent of five additional standard homes. Any project larger than this will be declined at the resource consent stage. Key development zones such as Beach Haven, Ōtara North, and Te Atatū fall into this category, with projected resolution timeframes for some constraints extending out to 2040.   

 

https://www.watercare.co.nz/builders-and-developers/consultation/network-capacity-in-auckland

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