Groups across Auckland petition candidates to declare support for local planning.

A petition signed by 28 Auckland resident and interest groups has been published today urging general election candidates to support planning authority being retained by Auckland Council.

Spokesperson for the petition organisers, Professor Dick Bellamy, says the combined signatories represent thousands of Aucklanders who disagree with how Government’s current housing and resource management policies effect Auckland.

“Government had already over-ridden Auckland’s Unitary Plan by requiring intensification in areas where it shouldn’t happen, our infrastructure can’t cope,” Bellamy says. “Now, a new Regional Policy Committee is due to be given ultimate authority in determining zoning and planning for all Auckland properties and that committee will have little to zero accountability to most Aucklanders”.

Bellamy, a former Auckland Regional Councillor and Dean of Science at University of Auckland says “Government has run roughshod over Auckland Council and Auckland communities on planning and decision making. Planning by “Wellington” has ignored the knowledge of local elected representatives, communities and the expertise of Auckland-based planners and urban design professionals”.

Bellamy said there may be a case for the reform of planning and infrastructure for smaller Local Government structures, but Auckland is unique in New Zealand with sufficient scale to properly conduct its affairs. “Now is the time for any parliamentary candidate hoping to represent the interests of Aucklanders to say they will support those interests”.

The petition is addressed to Auckland parliamentary candidates and the organisers have published it on social media.

© Scoop Media