Run for your lives, O leafy Aucklanders! The bulldozers are coming (they’re not)

Thousands of ordinary homeowners in Auckland’s affluent suburbs are about to be torn from their historic homes, which will be forcibly demolished. That’s the impression you’d get from a string of stories published under a particular byline, at least. Take, for example, this morning’s scaremongering codswallop … In some of the wealthy suburbs of New … Read more

Exclusive: The Greens unveil new urban design policy

Green MP and planning geek Julie Anne Genter reacts to the Unitary Plan – and announces a four-step programme to radically evolve our urban environment into the future. I love city planning – I’m a planning geek. So it’s pretty cool seeing people get excited about the Auckland Unitary Plan. The actual document might be … Read more

Coalition building: a broad church gathers to back a huge boost in Auckland housing

Enough heeding a small group of angry residents, time to listen to the experts. That was the message yesterday at the launch of the pro-Unitary-Plan campaign group Coalition for More Homes, writes Tim Murphy. The rowdy hordes have had their say on the Unitary Plan. Now it’s time for the experts. So says the prosaically … Read more

Shamubeel Calls Bullshit #1: The confused Boomer resident rights activist from St Heliers

Today we introduce a new series, ‘Shamubeel calls Bullshit’, in which prominent economist Shamubeel Eaqub swears at people who say moronic things about the Unitary Plan, the housing crisis, and the local body elections. Shamubeel Eaqub isn’t given to fits of rage. But even the most self-controlled economist can be driven mad by a bombardment of bad opinions, and the Unitary Plan debate … Read more

Len’s last stand: in his last days, Mayor Brown helps crush a move to axe Māori from the Unitary Plan debate

Attempts to have Māori Statutory Board members excluded from the vote on the Unitary Plan called for a proper Mayor in the Chair. So up stepped Len Brown. Tim Murphy watches a critical chapter of council squabbling Have we just witnessed Len’s Last Stand? One day after the Unitary Plan landed back in the Auckland … Read more

The two-minute Shamubeel: on the Auckland Unitary Plan redux

New Zealand’s classiest economist, Shamubeel Eaqub, unleashes his first impressions on the Independent Hearings Panel review of the big rule-book for Auckland’s future. The War for Auckland is a Spinoff pop-up section devoted to the 2016 Unitary Plan and local elections. To support our journalism, click here.

What the hell just happened there? An illustrated guide to a big day for Auckland

The protracted and sometimes anguished birthing process for the Unitary Plan, the blueprint for Auckland’s future, passed a crucial milestone today. But you’d be forgiven for wondering what it all means. Here’s an attempt to explain, with some helpful pictures. First, a picture of a USB stick: What happened today? The Independent Hearings Panel recommendations … Read more

Opinion: Auckland intensification opponents should learn to read the Unitary Plan

The Unitary Plan is a complicated beast of a document that has flummoxed many taking part in the debate. Simple misunderstandings are massively exacerbating Auckland’s housing crisis, says architect Henri Sayes. I’m an architect, I like buildings. And as an architect, I deal with planning regulation on a daily basis and know that the planning … Read more

‘Aww, poor thing’ – A victory for the loudest Aucklanders in the room

You wouldn’t know it looking around the meeting, but we were the voice of the roughly half a million Aucklanders under 24, a voice that has been largely sidelined in the debate on the city’s future. Yesterday the democratic deficit present in Auckland’s local body politics was well and truly evident. In a room of … Read more