19 September 2016

Unitary Plan appeals – “Let’s not lose momentum of moving Auckland forward at a faster pace ....”

Aucklanders deserve to be told as soon as possible whether any of the 108 appeals against different parts of the Unitary Plan passed by Auckland Council last month will seriously delay its implementation, says Michael Barnett, Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO.

“It seems that most of the appeals relate to individual sites. These should be able to be isolated and not be made a reason to delay the Plan’s commencement in early October,” he said.

However, if there are citywide issues with impacts likely to affect rules and regulations to get on top of our big housing, transport and other infrastructure issues we should be told immediately.

The Chamber has requested Mayor Len Brown to provide early and full response on the likely impact of the Unitary Plan appeals on Auckland’s progress.

“We have taken years to get Auckland to a position of having a single set of rules. To keep on delaying Auckland’s progress will get us nowhere – we are fast-growing city screaming out for more housing, connected infrastructure and action to address transport congestion.”

The Unitary Plan is a critical piece of the jigsaw needed for positioning Auckland to become the best city it can be going forward, and doing so with an accelerated pace of action – “the speed at which we do things is far too slow.”

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