Framework to assist new council

Working towards the future: Cr Graeme Mulholland looks over consulted plans.

From City Scene, published on 24 May, 2009.

Auckland City Council is to showcase its Future Planning Framework project as a potential district planning tool for the new Auckland Council.

The city has decided not to proceed with a new isthmus district plan in light of the proposed changes to regional governance and the Resource Management Act. Instead, it will develop three precinct plans as examples of local area planning, based on the research and public feedback gained from the framework project.

Councillor Graeme Mulholland, chairperson of the councillor working party that oversaw the framework, said the council would also prepare position papers that could assist the new council in its preparation of one district plan for the whole region.

"The results of our Future Planning Framework in researching possible development options for the isthmus will be incredibly useful planning tools for Auckland Council," he says.

He added that electing not to notify a revised district plan for the isthmus next year would also produce financial and staff resource savings.

Recommendations on criteria to select which three areas will be used for the precincts' planning will be made at next month's City Development Committee meeting. Nearly 900 people gave feedback on the Future Planning Framework. Comments will be assessed and summarised on the framework's dedicated website, It's my backyard.

Overall, thousands of residents took the opportunity to view the framework recommendations on the website during April and May and hundreds more attended public displays and presentations.