Kia ora whānau, I hope you have all enjoyed a relaxing Easter with friends and family! Kāinga Ora have received back an s92 letter from Council dated Wednesday 27th March. KO now has 15 working days to submit their response or can extend this timeline as negotiated with Council.

As well as the nitty gritty of specific design issues, Auckland Council has done a fantastic job noting some key issues within the letter around the following:

• Special Circumstances: KO to provide legal advice around special circumstances (e.g. case law), with respect to the level of public / community interest in the application Given much of the public interest has been around the scale and intensity of the development and the new road, where there are no significant changes in this regard from the previous resource consent application
• Road Safety: Council’s Traffic Engineer notes that the sight line of the vehicle crossing appears to be severely restrained by the road bend and parked vehicles. This aligns with the issues raised by the road safety audit team. Please provide an assessment around the sight lines, considering street parking is likely to be occupied at most times from the existing parking demand (as observed during the site visit 14/03/2024).
• Whau Local Board has provided the following comments to the Council. “Because of the public interest in this development, Whau Local Board requests public notification. Public concern appears to be focussed on the impact of additional traffic on Bolton Street, with the proximity of the development to two schools and the extent to which provision will be made to accommodate elderly tenants. The latter has been a very contentious issue with the community.”
• Council Provisional Comments: The determination of the new resource consent application for the residential development will be made by an Independent Commissioner, as the proposal remains contentious, continues to have significant neighbour / public interest, and is of the same scale and layout as the previous resource consent application. Council’s view is that the Independent Commissioner’s fundamental concerns about ‘the adverse building intensity effects on the wider environment’ and that ‘the scale and intensity of the development give rise to special circumstances in this case’ have not been addressed. The development has the same yield and the same roading proposal. Given these characteristics, it is difficult to see how the Independent Commissioner will come to a different decision if the proposed plans are presented as a new application.

These are some brief notes from within. If you would like a copy of the s92 letter yourself please leave a comment below and I can message it, leave your email in the comments or email me - benjinathan00@gmail.com