Media release
1 September 2015

New council infrastructure fund to unlock housing

Auckland Council has enabled a new local residential growth fund to be used to help fund and connect the transport needed for about 1200 new homes in the Huapai Triangle Special Housing Area.

The maximum $9.9 million investment is the first payment from Auckland Council’s 2015-2025 Long-term Plan local residential growth fund, which was set up by the council and financed by Auckland Transport. The monies spent can then be recouped from development contributions paid by property developers in the local area as each of their developments come to fruition.

The funding agreement is a result of a council-led collaboration with the Huapai Triangle property developers, and infrastructure partners Auckland Transport, NZ Transport Agency and KiwiRail.

“Creation of this growth fund is an essential step by the council and Auckland Transport as it enables the ‘just in time’ matching of core infrastructure with developers. It also provides certainty for developers and existing and future residents alike,” said Ree Anderson, the council’s Project Director Housing.

“This is the first of many areas that will be enabled over the next 10 years through the fund. As such, it is great to get the groundwork and supporting contractual arrangements in place – a great collaborative effort.”

Auckland’s 97 Special Housing Areas (SHAs) have the capacity to yield more than 47,000 homes over 10 years. Connecting SHAs and other growth areas to key infrastructure services is vital to serving new homes and creating the quality neighbourhoods that communities expect.

The residential development on Station and Nobilo Roads, just south of the railway line at Huapai Village, will provide around 1,200 additional homes in a mixed housing development, offering a range of dwelling types and sizes. Around 80 to 90 of the homes will be ‘affordable’ as defined by the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act.

The residential growth fund will be used to upgrade parts of Station, Nobilo and Access roads to support the planned-for increase of homes and sections in the area, as will intersections of those roads with State Highway 16.

The landowners of the Huapai Triangle applied for a plan variation in September last year which will allow for a comprehensive residential development to be built. The site has the potential for 1200 sections, with 120 of those within the first qualifying development resource consent application, which was lodged with the council at the same time as the plan variation.

The infrastructure fund is part of the council’s 10-year budget, which was adopted on 25 June this year. The fund provides for $35 million per annum for each of the next 10 years for local transport infrastructure for SHAs and other residential growth areas. The fund is designed to bridge the budget gap for critical missing infrastructure links which might impede the development of new homes.

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