Kiwi Property is seeking information on the council's controversial 30-year contributions decision
A major housing and retail development at Drury has secured fast-track approval to start building eight months after securing site rezoning.
An independent panel of the Environmental Protection Authority has approved resource consent for Kiwi Property to subdivide and develop land in Drury, South Auckland under the fast-track scheme.
The rural area in South Auckland could reach the size of Napier over the next 30 years.
READ MORE: * Councillors approve ground-breaking 30-year developer levy * Battle over funding infrastructure for 60,000-person housing project * Court approves high-cost, high-rise Drury town centre after council appeal
Introduced as part of the Covid-19 recovery programme, fast-tracking provides for a streamlined consenting process for projects identified as boosting employment and economic recovery.
Minister for the Environment David Parker originally referred the project to the panel in November 2021, though Kiwi Property ended up withdrawing the application in July 2022 to focus on its private plan change
It reapplied in November 2022, with the independent panel finding Kiwi Property’s Drury Town Centre met the benefit threshold.
The authority’s fast-track decision gives Kiwi Property resource consent to build the infrastructure, roads and parks across its 51ha Drury Town Centre project site, as well as 13 residential super-lots and 24,000sqm of large format retail.
Seeking fast-track approval was contentious when first filed in 2021, with councillors, including then-Mayor Phil Goff, not supporting what they saw as an attempt to circumvent the normal council process, and calling for a more collaborative approach.
The decision can be appealed in the High Court within 15 working days. Auckland Council resource consents general manager Ian Smallburn said the council would use this time to review the decision.
A fast-track application by fellow Drury developer Fulton Hogan is currently suspended.
Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie said the decision gave it the confidence and mandate to continue the project at pace.
Earlier consents
The company has been dealing with uncertainty since day dot, moving forward with earthworks before its private plan change was officiated.
Kiwi Property and fellow Drury developers Oyster Capital and Fulton Hogan were originally granted resource consent to rezone land in East Drury from future urban to a mix of residential, business and open space in May 2022 by Auckland Council independent commissioners.
The council itself then appealed the decision of the commissioners within 30 days, a move Kiwi Property labelled as “unprecedented” at the time.
The council had been opposed to the changes as it would have to foot the bill for billions of dollars of infrastructure.
The process then went to the Environment Court where a joint memorandum was filed in November 2020, re-confirming rezoning of the land at Drury was appropriate.
Who pays
How best to pay for that infrastructure was subject to another lengthy process which will ultimately see Drury developers paying development contributions for 30 years, rather than the standard 10 years.
This will see players like Kiwi Property paying upwards of $90,000 per household equivalent, compared to $22,564 per household in other parts of Auckland.
Auckland city councillors approved the new contributions policy in April, while the risk of a judicial review from Drury developers, similar to what happened with the council bed tax, lingered in the background.
At the time the council's chief financial officer Peter Gudsell said the council had a "very defensible" position in adopting the policy, calling any future legal action unwarranted and unpleasant.
When asked if it was considering a judicial review, Kiwi Property said it was seeking information from council regarding the development contribution decision, but its priority was ultimately getting on with building Drury.
