Transport Guidelines Must Facilitate Growth

Property Council supports the overall intention of the Government’s Integrated Transport (GIT) Assessment Guidelines but there are concerns it may dampen development.

The document intends to provide increased clarity and certainty to applicants about the transport related matters to consider when undertaking developments.

However, there are strong concerns regarding a number of issues which need to be rectified to ensure that the Guidelines are proportionate in terms of what they require.

Property Council chief executive Connal Townsend, says one key issue in need of urgent attention is ensuring that the Guidelines effectively integrate with, and facilitate, Auckland Council’s vision of having a compact city with dense development.

“Whilst the Guidelines are not a statutory document and maintain a measure of flexibility, in practice officials will use them as a check list of things that need to be done. Therefore, if too rigid, they will end up having negative impact on development and achieving density targets.”

Currently, the Guidelines and ITA requirements appear to provide a greater emphasis on slowing development where it may not completely reconcile with planned infrastructure. Property Council believes a change in focus is required.

It is important that Auckland Transport should amend the Guidelines to ensure that they facilitate, and do not hinder, development in accordance with the density targets in the Auckland Plan and the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.

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