Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Video | Agriculture | Confidence | Economy | Energy | Employment | Finance | Media | Property | RBNZ | Science | SOEs | Tax | Technology | Telecoms | Tourism | Transport | Search

 

Urban Growth Agenda Warrants Bi-Partisan Support

Media Statement
16 August 2018
Government’s Urban Growth Agenda Warrants Bi-Partisan Support

“The Government’s Urban Growth Agenda tackles the key issues holding back development in New Zealand and warrants support across the political spectrum,” says Stephen Selwood CEO of Infrastructure New Zealand.

At the Infrastructure New Zealand Building Nations Symposium this morning, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford restated the Government’s commitment to addressing housing affordability and supply challenges via the five pillars of the Urban Growth Agenda:

Infrastructure funding and financing – to enable a more responsive supply of infrastructure and appropriate allocation of cost.
Urban Planning – to allow cities to make room for growth, support quality built environment and enable strategic integrated planning.
Spatial planning to build a stronger partnership with local government as a means of developing integrated spatial planning.
Transport pricing – to ensure the price of transport infrastructure promotes efficient use of the network.
Legislative reform – to ensure that regulatory, institutional and funding settings are collectively supporting the UGA objectives.
“This is a comprehensive programme and represents the first system-wide attempt to address the causes of the housing and wider urban development crisis.

“The proposed changes are not inconsistent with National’s reform intentions when it was in government. It would be great to see cross party support for change to finally breakthrough the current stranglehold on effective planning, decision making and investment in New Zealand.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Successive legislation, principally the RMA (Resource Management Act 1991), the LGA (Local Government Act 2002) and the LTMA (Land Transport Management Act 2005), has disaggregated growth decision making, funding and delivery.

“In places where we’ve had land, we’ve had no infrastructure. In places with infrastructure, we’ve had no zoning. In places with zoning, we’ve had no demand.

“The Urban Growth Agenda knits together the key elements needed to turn a section of land into a new home or business, but only if it’s implemented in full and without delay.

“There is strong industry support to tackle infrastructure funding and financing, and the use of off-balance sheet project financing vehicles now needs to be ramped up and rolled out.

“Well signalled Government commitments to introduce road pricing and open up land for development are now overdue. These initiatives are critical to tackling congestion, addressing land banking, reintroducing scale to the development market and delivering affordable, accessible housing.

“New Zealand cannot afford continued political stand-off on these important issues. Auckland alone is 50,000 homes short of what it needs to house its population and that number has increased 10 per cent in the last year.

“The housing and infrastructure crisis will continue to get worse until a substantive change agenda is fully implemented.

“To the extent that the reform programme may cross Parliamentary terms of government, bi-partisan support will be central to success,” Selwood says.


ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Business Headlines | Sci-Tech Headlines

 
GenPro: General Practices Begin Issuing Clause 14 Notices

GenPro has been copied into a rising number of Clause 14 notices issued since the NZNO lodged its Primary Practice Pay Equity Claim against General Practice employers in December 2023.More

SPADA: Screen Industry Unites For Streaming Platform Regulation & Intellectual Property Protections

In an unprecedented international collaboration, representatives of screen producing organisations from around the world have released a joint statement.More

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.