Hon Dr Nick Smith

Minister for Building and Housing
12 November 2015

Former quarry site now available for housing

The decision by a panel of commissioners appointed by Auckland Council to allow new houses to be built on a disused quarry site in Mount Eden has been welcomed today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.

“The rezoning of the former land at the Three Kings quarry site as residential will enable the construction of up to 1500 much-needed homes for Auckland. The Three Kings site is in an ideal location for a good quality, well-designed housing development. It is close to the city centre, key transport routes, parks, amenities and shops, and in an area that is in high demand by future residents,” Dr Smith says.

The large-scale development at Three Kings is being advanced by Fletcher Residential Limited, and has required a lengthy plan change process under the Resource Management Act 1991 and a complex land exchange process under the Reserves Act. Part of the site was designated as a Special Housing Area under the Housing Accord between the Government and Auckland Council in February this year, but the 10-storey cascading apartment building which has been proposed for the site means the Special Housing Area mechanism cannot be used to expedite the project.

“This development will be a vibrant urban community housing up to 4000 people across different types of housing, including apartments and terraced housing. I congratulate Fletcher Residential for having the vision to pursue this opportunity, and the Auckland Council and the hearings panel for recognising its merits, given the critical importance of new residential development in Auckland,” Dr Smith says.

“The Government priority remains boosting the supply of new housing in Auckland. We are freeing up more land faster, with 97 Special Housing Areas established so far with a long-term capacity of 45,000 new homes. We are continuing progress on our programme to facilitate housing on Crown-owned land, with the first of the sites under the initiatives gazette for state housing purposes last week. The next steps include our planned second phase of Resource Management Act reforms, and I intend to announce a further tranche of Special Housing Areas with Mayor Len Brown before the end of the month.”

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