Urban Development News from the media | 25 March 2025 | Reining in water price increases for Aucklanders

Reining in water price increases for Aucklanders

Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say.

The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council with the support of the Government under Local Water Done Well. 

“Last year, the Government quickly progressed legislation to restore local control of water assets, overturning Labour’s Three Water reforms which were expensive and creating problems across the country. This included putting in place preliminary arrangements for the transition to safe, resilient, reliable, environmentally sound, and customer responsive water services at the least cost,” Mr Watts says.

“The charter will help keep Auckland’s water services affordable, saving households about $899 million over four years while ensuring improved service quality and record infrastructure investment averaging $1.3 billion a year to unlock housing growth in Auckland.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/reining-water-price-increases-aucklanders

Retirement village company Arvida to challenge Auckland Council’s Warkworth land decision in court

A fight is brewing in the pretty township of Warkworth, 45 minutes’ drive north of central Auckland, over the future of a large block of farmland just outside the urban part of town.

The dispute encompasses not just the future use of the land, but the status of “prime soils”, the extent of urban sprawl and the legality of Auckland Council’s planning process.

Arvida, a retirement home company, owns 55ha of a 140ha block on Matakana Rd, between Sandspit Rd and the Warkworth Golf Club.

Last month it applied to the governing body of the council for a private plan change that would rezone the entire block as Residential: Mixed Housing Urban.

If the 140ha was completely built over, this would roughly double the size of the existing Warkworth township east of the old state highway.

Led by Mayor Wayne Brown, the council voted 17-3 to reject Arvida’s plan, with Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson abstaining.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/retirement-village-company-arvida-to-challenge-auckland-councils-warkworth-land-decision-in-court/2UDXVZGUFREIZBWDXSXEJ3AJRY/

Resource consent for Southland wind farm declined

Plans for a Contact Energy wind farm in Southland have been halted, with a panel declining their resource consent application.

The power company applied under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Act for resource consent to build a 55-turbine wind farm at Slopedown.

That was declined by an independent panel on Tuesday, with mitigation of adverse effects on indigenous vegetation and habitats of indigenous fauna being a sticking point.

The project site was spread over 58 square kilometres of privately owned land, including land that formed part of Jedburgh and Glencoe Stations.

It was predicated that between $230-280 million would be spent within the New Zealand economy during its construction.

The decision report said the Jedburgh Plateau contained large areas of indigenous vegetation that were ecologically significant.

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360619877/resource-consent-southland-wind-farm-declined

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