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
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
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
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
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 Spinoff editor Duncan Greive writes about the response to our announcement of The War for Auckland. A version of this post was posted on PledgeMe at 6am. Because I’m a grownup with good work/life balance, I woke up at 4.30am and checked our PledgeMe balance on my phone. When I’d gone to bed we’d … Read more
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.
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
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
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