24/11/2025
📣 Plan Change 120 – Community Info & How You Can Get Involved
Auckland Council has released Plan Change 120 (PC120), a major proposal affecting housing intensification, resilience, and Special Character Areas across the city.
Public in person information sessions start tonight and run across the region, so please come along if you want to understand what’s proposed or ask questions.
🗓 IN-PERSON COMMUNITY INFO SESSIONS
To attend please visit https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/aucklands-future-housing-plan and click on the link to register for the meeting you plan to attend.
There are also recorded webinars from last week up there to watch as well!
• WEST
📅 Monday 24 November, 6:30–8:00pm
📍 Te Manawa, Level 3, Kōkiri Ngātahi rooms, 11 Kohuhu Lane, Westgate
• SOUTH / EAST
📅 Tuesday 25 November, 6:30–8:00pm
📍 Te Puke ō Tara Community Centre, 20 Newbury Street, Ōtara
• NORTH
📅 Wednesday 26 November, 6:30–8:00pm
📍 North Harbour Stadium, North Lounge, Stadium Drive, Albany
• CENTRAL / EAST
📅 Monday 1 December, 6:30–8:00pm
📍 Aotea Centre, Level 3, Waitakere Room, 50 Mayoral Drive, Auckland Central
🏡Where to Find All PC120 Information:
Council website link (summaries, maps, full documents):
https://new.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/plans-policies-bylaws-reports-projects/our-plans-strategies/unitary-plan/auckland-unitary-plan-modifications/proposed-plan-changes/pc-120-housing-intensification-resilience.html
Resources available:
Overall Summary – good starting point, with links to deeper info.
Interactive Maps – see proposed zoning and overlays near you; includes video + written instructions.
Information Sheets – covers various aspects of the plan change.
Friend of the Submitter – free help on submissions and the process (email + phone on website).
Special Character guidance – includes business + residential assessments.
Full Plan Documents – detailed legal documents under “Notification Documents.”
For questions: [email protected]
Other Key Parts of PC120
- Stricter consent controls now apply in flood zones and coastal areas, as soon as PC120 was notified.
- If you live where stormwater and wastewater pipes are combined, you will need to apply for consent for some works.
- PC120 rules won’t take full effect for around 18 months.
- 78 protected viewshafts remain protected under the proposal.
🏘 Special Character Areas (SCAs) - I know that not everyone is concerned about this, however I have received a lot of emails from people who are.
Some key figures if you’re preparing a submission:
There are 20,466 SCA properties in the current Unitary Plan.
4,735 (≈23%) are proposed to be removed under PC120.
This reduces Auckland’s SCA coverage from 3.6% → under 3% of residential land.
Biggest reductions are in Waitematā, Ōrākei, and Albert-Eden.
Some SCAs lose only a few houses, others are removed entirely.
For more SCA detail or support, you can also contact Character Coalition, who have templates available.
🚫 What We Can’t Submit On (because these are set by legislation)
- The requirement for 10–15 storey buildings around train stations.
- The overall housing capacity targets (e.g., 2M+ homes over Auckland).
- Requests for more parking in developments (parking minimums were removed by central government years ago).
✅ What We Can Submit On
You can comment on matters where Council still has discretion, such as:
- Even if you love what is being proposed then you should submit that. For example Kainga Ora in the past Plan Changes, submit to remove Special Character Areas, so if you want them retained you should submit. If you support the intensification along arterials and train stations, you should submit that.
- Shadowing, setbacks, and design impacts.
- Infrastructure constraints – e.g., parks, community facilities, narrow streets, stormwater.
- Quality and design concerns for future developments.
- Reducing walkable catchments to retain more SCA, however the intensification will need to be shifted elsewhere.
- Evidence that the 10-minute walkable catchment is longer than mapped.
- Zoning that doesn’t reflect real flooding in your area.
- Possible mapping mistakes – planners had limited time, so local knowledge helps.
✍️ Submissions
Submissions can be very simple, just key points.
- You can provide fuller explanations later during hearings.
- Lodging a submission is what gets you in the door to be heard.
If you’re concerned about the changes, planning to submit, or simply trying to understand PC120, please come to one of the info sessions and make use of the resources available. Your voice genuinely matters in this process. You're welcome to email me [email protected].
