Building giant plans urban village

Ire as 109ha land near Kumeu bought for potential houses

Ahuge tract of West Auckland farmland more than half the size of Hobsonville Point could be transformed into the city’s next “urban village” after being snapped up by construction giant Fletcher Building.

However, residents have slammed Fletcher’s purchase of the 109ha of dairy farmland near Kumeu and its plans to potentially build thousands of homes next to Taupaki township by 2045.

Local MP Chris Penk said recurring haphazard development had mired Auckland’s northwest in grinding traffic jams and classroom shortages.

Auckland Council also expressed concern, saying Fletcher’s new land was located outside areas earmarked for future urban growth.

That risked disrupting city growth plans and piling more costs on ratepayers, it said.

Penk said Fletcher’s plans called into question the kind of city Aucklanders wanted to live in — one that rushed new developments or one that planned for the future.

“We’ve ended up with ad-hoc development that doesn’t make sense in the way it all fits together — and the infrastructure needed to support that increased population does not yet exist.”

Fletcher said its Taupaki land was an “attractive” buy at a time when house prices had climbed to record heights and Auckland’s continued population growth meant more homes were badly needed.

Its plans were still in the “very early stages”, but it intended to engage “relevant stakeholders” with “a vision of creating a residential community alongside the existing one at Taupaki”, it said.

That included building an “urban village, together with roads, parks, community facilities and supporting infrastructure”.

Fletcher wouldn’t reveal the price paid for the two dairy farms at 467 and 517-529 Waitakere Rd after gaining Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval in September.

But the Herald understands it was well above their combined council valuations of $6.4 million.

The OIO said Fletcher’s project would create housing “in an attractive location”, protect wildlife in Kumeu River and create cycle tracks and walkways.

It comes as Auckland’s median sales price soared to a record high $1.03m in November, the Real Estate Institute said. Hamish Glenn, from lobby group Infrastructure NZ, said part of the blame for high house prices was central and local governments restricting the release of new development land.

However, Auckland councillor and planning committee chairman Chris Darby said unconstrained land release “would lead to a chaotic outcome of land banking and development occurring anywhere any time”.

Developers could then buy cheap rural land, leaving ratepayers to finance transport links, schools, libraries and parks.

That’s why Auckland Council created a future urban land supply strategy, he said.

It planned for an orderly release of land so infrastructure could be built in the most cost-effective and efficient way.

The supply strategy allowed for up to one million new homes to be built by 2047, including 137,000 on vacant land, Darby said.

That led council to grant a record 15,673 approvals for new homes in the 12 months to October, he said.

There was also plenty of land identified by the supply strategy still available for purchase, yet Fletcher instead chose to buy rural land outside the future development boundaries, he said.

To get its project off the ground, the company would now need to get its rural-countryside living land rezoned. Should it have problems convincing Auckland Council to do this, it could bring a private plan change application and seek to have this heard by an independent committee.