Unitary Plan Agenda May 2014

Note: The reports contained within this agenda are for consideration and should not be construed as Council policy

unless and until adopted. Should Members require further information relating to any reports, please contact the relevant manager, Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson.

I hereby give notice that an ordinary meeting of the Unitary Plan Committee will be held on:

Date: Time: Meeting Room: Venue:

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

1.30pm

Auckland Town Hall Reception Lounge Level 2 301-305 Queen Street Auckland

Unitary Plan Committee

OPEN AGENDA

MEMBERSHIP Chairperson Cr Alf Filipaina Deputy Chairperson Cr Penny Hulse Members Cr Anae Arthur Anae Cr Dr Cathy Casey Cr Chris Darby Cr Denise Krum Member Liane Ngamane Member Josie Smith Cr Wayne Walker Cr Penny Webster Ex-officio Mayor Len Brown, JP (Quorum 6 members) Suad Allie

Democracy Advisor 14 May 2014 Contact Telephone: (09) 367 3078 Email: [email protected] Website: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Responsibilities A committee that will give direction to officers on matters associated with the Unitary Plan including:

Council’s submission to the UP (final sign off with parent committee)

Response to matters raised by the submission process

Pre-hearing mediation Substantive issues of policy require approval by the parent committee. Powers 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 limited to making a recommendation only


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ITEM TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

1 Apologies 5

2 Declaration of Interest 5

3 Confirmation of Minutes 5

4 Petitions 5

5 Public Input 5

6 Local Board Input 5

7 Extraordinary Business 6

8 Notices of Motion 6

9 Auckland Unitary Plan update 7

10 Consideration of Extraordinary Items


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1 Apologies

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

That the Unitary Plan Committee:

a) confirm the ordinary minutes of its meeting, held on Tuesday, 25 February 2014, as a true and correct record.

4 Petitions

At the close of the agenda no requests to present petitions had been received. 5 Public Input

Standing Order 3.21 provides for Public Input. Applications to speak must be made to the Committee Secretary, in writing, no later than two (2) working days 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 3.22 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 two (2) days 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 3.9.14 to speak to matters on the agenda. At the close of the agenda no requests for local board input had been received.


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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 Unitary Plan update Page 7

Auckland Unitary Plan update

File No.: CP2014/09432

Purpose 1. The purpose of this report is to update the committee on progress with the preparation of the

Summary of Decisions Requested Report (the summary report) in respect of submissions on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP). The report discusses the framework used to complete this task, provides some preliminary statistical information and seeks a decision from the committee in relation to the production of hard copies of the submissions and the summary report. The report also provides an update on the Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) and discusses the upcoming work programme for the Unitary Plan Committee.

Executive summary

2. The PAUP was notified on 30 September 2013. Submissions closed on 28 February 2014. 8,958 submissions were received within the submission period. A further 513 late submissions have been received. The next step in the statutory process is to notify a summary of the decisions requested in the submissions. Significant resources have been deployed to complete this task. The summary report is scheduled for notification in early June. The 30 working day further submission period will then begin.

3. The Government-appointed Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) has commenced its work, and council staff have been appointed to support the IHP. Once the summary report is notified, the IHP will be in a position to finalise a schedule of pre-hearing meetings and hearings for the many topics addressed in the submissions. The detailed work programme for the Unitary Plan Committee will become clearer at that time, however this report provides a very early indication of the work that will be required.

Recommendation/s That the Unitary Plan Committee:

a) receive the report.

b) agree to make hard copies of the Summary of Decisions Requested Report in respect of submission on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan available in all council libraries (excluding those with insufficient display space), local board offices and the main council service centres.

c) agree to make available on request, hard copies of submissions on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, subject to the council’s standard printing and administration costs.

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Comments Update on Submissions Preparing the Summary of Decisions Requested Report 4. 8958 submissions were received on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP) by 5pm on

the closing date, 28 February 2014. A further 513 submissions have been received since that time, some of which contained supplementary information relating to a submission that had been lodged on time. The Chair of the Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel (IHP), Judge Kirkpatrick, has the power to accept or reject late submissions. The relevant matters the Chair needs to consider are set out in section 135 of the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act (refer Attachment 1).

5. As with all regional and district plan reviews and plan changes, the Resource Management Act (RMA) requires the council to prepare a report summarising the decisions requested in submissions on the PAUP. This report is formally known as the Summary of Decisions Requested Report (the summary report). Once completed, the summary report must be notified to allow people to make further submissions. Accepting submissions after 30 April 2014 would either delay the notification of the summary report or mean that they are not included in the report.

6. The RMA specifies that the following people or organisations can make a further submission:

persons with an interest greater than the general public

persons that represent a matter of public interest. 7. Preparing the summary report for the PAUP is a huge task. Every decision requested in a

submission must be carefully summarised. Some submissions are only a page long, however many seek dozens, if not hundreds of complex changes to the PAUP. The vast majority of submissions were received in the last week of February. Since that time, approximately 35 planners and 10 planning technicians/administrators have been working full time on the report, with a number working considerable overtime. It will no doubt be the largest summary report ever prepared under the RMA. At the time of preparing this report, it is estimated that the summary report will be completed by the end of May. This will enable the report to be notified for further submissions in early to mid-June.

Accessing Original Submissions and the Summary of Decisions Requested Report 8. The summary report will contain over 100,000 individual requests for decisions on the

PAUP. In order to make such a complex report meaningful, each point made in a submission is coded to a theme and topic, and in some cases, a sub-topic. The coding framework is included as Attachment 2. When published on the council website, submitters and others will be able to view individual reports for each topic (and sub-topic) and a summary of all of the decisions requested by each submitter. Scanned copies of the actual submissions themselves will also be available on the website. The number of staff assigned to the Unitary Plan enquiries team will be increased during the further submission period to assist people in finding the information they are after.

9. Given the volume of submissions, it is recommended that the summary report is made available at all council libraries (excluding those with insufficient display space), local board offices and main service centres. In terms of the submissions themselves, is recommended that they are only made available on the council website.

10. The estimated difference in cost of the recommended option versus an alternative of providing hard copies of the summary report in all council libraries, local board offices and service centres, and copies of the original submissions, is approximately $24,000 versus $905,000.

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11. The key point to note is that under the recommended option, someone who wants the council to provide a hard copy of a submission or submissions can request this via the Unitary Plan enquiries line or email. The standard council printing costs would apply.

Update on the Unitary Plan Independent Hearing Panel Structure and Staff Appointments 12. As the committee will be aware, the IHP was appointed by the Minister for the Environment

and Minister of Conservation late last year. More recently, council staff have been appointed to support the IHP for the duration of the process. The support staff will manage the administrative side of the hearings, including scheduling and programming topics for pre-hearing meetings, mediation and hearing. This document outlines the role of the IHP support team. The support team and IHP are temporarily working from Level 25, 135 Albert Street.

Premises for the IHP 13. Two floors (Levels 15 and 16) have been leased in premises at Tower 1, 205 Queen Street

to accommodate the IHP and support team. Two hearing rooms, and rooms for mediation and conferencing, will be available on Level 16. These two floors are being refitted to accommodate the IHP and support team and to enable hearings. The IHP and support team anticipate they will relocate to these new premises at the end of June.

14. The number of people that can be accommodated on each level is 130 (to meet fire safety requirements). As there are a large number of submitters on some PAUP topics, it is anticipated that an alternative venue may need to be found for some hearings.

Hearing Procedures Document 15. A Hearing Procedures document is being developed by the IHP to provide direction to all

those participating in the hearing process on the overall principles and procedures that will apply, and the role of support staff and Auckland Council. This document will be updated from time to time through the hearings process. The Hearing Procedures document will be uploaded to the IHP website in late May 2014.

Independent Hearing Panel Website 16. A website has been developed that provides information on the IHP and the hearing

process. It went live on 8 May. The website (www.aupihp.govt.nz) will be the main point of reference for submitters throughout the hearing process and will provide:

information on the IHP

the hearing procedures

information on the hearings process (scheduling of pre-hearing meetings, mediation and

expert conferencing and hearings)

all relevant documents relating to hearings and any independent evidence obtained by

the IHP

a link/address to contact support staff.

17. The website will continuously be updated with information relating to hearings and the

hearing process, and submitters will be advised of the need to refer to the website for the most up-to-date information on a hearing topic.

http://www.aupihp.govt.nz/

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Hearings Timetable 18. The IHP has given some initial thought to a hearings timetable, but is awaiting the release of

the summary report by the council before it can make final decisions on the order of pre-hearing meetings and hearings and timing for when these will begin.

Committee Work Programme 19. At this stage it is not possible to confirm an overall work programme for the committee. The

work required will become much clearer once the IHP confirms the schedule of topics for pre-hearing meetings and hearings. This having been said, it is anticipated that the IHP will most likely want to consider submissions on the overall structure of the PAUP and the strategic issues contained in the Regional Policy Statement chapter at the outset of the process, before moving on to more detailed topics. It is therefore anticipated that reports to the committee between now and the end of the year will focus on the Regional Policy Statement, and address the council’s overall strategy for topics such as the compact city, the Rural Urban Boundary, economic development, infrastructure, rural Auckland, the coastal environment, the natural environment, historic heritage, climate change and the Treaty of Waitangi.

20. Submissions on the Auckland-wide provisions (e.g. noise, lighting and earthworks), zones and overlays are likely to be considered next, followed by submissions on place-based provisions (e.g. precincts), rezoning requests and designations. It is possible that there could be a departure from this general sequence to enable topics of high public interest, or very straight-forward topics, to be brought forward in the overall programme.

21. Once an initial programme is confirmed, staff will begin work on a series of presentations for the committee to obtain direction on the council’s response to the submissions. Formal resolutions will often be required, and it is proposed that the scheduled committee meetings commence as workshops before moving into the formal meeting format to enable this.

22. After initial pre-hearing meetings, it is possible that some topics may move on to formal mediation prior to the hearings. The IHP is in the process of appointing qualified mediators. In these cases, it will be important to set out the parameters within which council planning staff are able to agree to amendments to the PAUP. In some cases it may be appropriate for members of the committee to be delegated the authority to attend mediation and agree to amendments discussed during mediation.

Submission Topics 23. In order to give the committee an early sense of the issues raised in submissions, a

statistical count of the number of points raised against the main topics in the submissions coding framework referred to earlier in this report is included as Attachment 2. The top 30 topics by number of points raised are as follows:

Topic Number of Submission

Points

Rezoning – Central / Isthmus 8234

Residential zones – General 5212

Rezoning – South 4281

Rezoning - North and Islands 3193

Urban growth 2660

Business zones - General 2205

Transport - Auckland-wide provisions 2084

Rezoning – West 1947

Overlay - Special character areas - Business and residential 1916

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Overlay - Historic heritage 1648

Volcanic view shafts survey coordinates 1377

Out of scope 1316

Regional Policy Statement - Mana Whenua 1263

Regional Policy Statement - Historic heritage, special character and natural heritage 1217

Definitions 1174

General provisions 1109

Regional Policy Statement - Issues 1043

Subdivision – Rural zones 1027

Subdivision – General 824

Rural zones - General 805

Overlay – pre-1944 demolition controls 755

Changes to the Rural Urban Boundary 750

Overlay - Lakes, rivers and streams and wetland and management areas 748

Public Open Space zone - General 736

Cultural impact assessment and accidental discovery protocols 711

Precincts - Devonport Peninsula 683

Stormwater 658

Overlay - Sites and Places of Value to Mana Whenua 655

Precincts - Bayswater 643

Regional Policy Statement - Economic / Business / Infrastructure / Energy / Transport 638

24. It is important to note that topics with few submission points may still involve complex issues

that require considerable time and effort to work through.

Consideration

Local board views and implications

25. The view of local boards are able to be represented by the attendance of all local board chairs at the Unitary Plan Committee.

Maori impact statement

26. It is considered that there are no specific impacts on Maori arising from any decisions made by the Unitary Plan Committee in response to this report.

Implementation 27. The recommendations contained in this report can be implemented within the existing

Unitary Plan budget and staff resources. Should the committee wish to make hard copies available of the submissions on the PAUP in all council libraries, local board offices and service centres, additional funding would be required. Issues would also arise in terms of the space available within libraries, local board offices and service centres to display the submissions.

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Attachments

No. Title Page

A Section 135 - Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 13

B Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan - Coding Framework for Submissions 15

Signatories

Authors John Duguid – Manager – Unitary Plan

Authorisers Penny Pirrit - Regional & Local Planning Manager

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Attachment 1

Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act

s135 Late submissions

(1) This section applies to submissions or further submissions received after the closing

date for those submissions.

(2) The chairperson of the Hearings Panel must decide whether to waive the requirement

to provide the submissions before that closing date in respect of each submission to

which this section applies.

(3) In making his or her decision, the chairperson must take into account—

(a) the interests of any person who or that, in the chairperson's opinion, may be

directly affected by the waiver; and

(b) the need to ensure there is an adequate assessment of the effects of the

proposed plan; and

(c) the stage of the Hearing at which the Hearings Panel is provided with the

submissions.

(4) A decision of the chairperson under this section is final and there is no right of

objection or appeal against it.

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Documents

Unitary Plan Agenda May 2014