PC120 replaces the earlier PC78, which mandated blanket three-storey housing across most of Auckland.

PC120 allows intensification but also introduces stronger hazard protections after the 2023 floods. Supporters see it as a balance between housing supply and resilience, while opponents view it as either too restrictive (for developers) or too disruptive (for residents)

 

Plan Change 120 is a proposed update to the District Plan that focuses on residential intensification and housing supply. It aligns with national policy directions to enable more homes in existing urban areas, close to public transport and community facilities.

Key points:
Forces medium-density housing (6 Storey) across wide swathes of Auckland.

Wipes out more than 6,000 special character homes, removing completely the Special Character in all of St Marys Bay and many other areas, locally in Lawrence and Wallace Streets. 

Council wants to increase housing from 500 thousand houses to 2 million in one plan, enough for 250 years at historic growth rates.

 

PC120 fails to provide any financial modelling, long‑term budgeting, or infrastructure delivery plan for the densification it proposes. Key concerns:

- Auckland Council’s debt is already high, with ~$2 million per day being paid in interest.

- How will additional growth be funded?

- What is the cost to upgrade three‑waters, transport, electrical networks, and civic infrastructure to support             high‑density areas?

- What are the rate implications for current residents?

- What financial guarantees or sureties will Council use to secure further loans?

- Where is the long‑term financial strategy that demonstrates fiscal responsibility to ratepayers? Without transparent financial modelling, PC120 remains theoretical and does not meet basic standards of infrastructure or governance planning.

 

Auckland already faces: - Overloaded stormwater systems, - Regular flooding events, - Ageing water infrastructure, - Insufficient transport capacity, - And wastewater overflows into harbours. High‑density housing cannot be delivered without a fully costed, technically reviewed, and staged infrastructure upgrade plan. PC120 provides none.

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