NZ Urban Development news from the media | 5 March 2024 | Options and trade-offs: Auckland’s Long-term Plan opens for consultation

Options and trade-offs: Auckland’s Long-term Plan opens for consultation

Auckland Council’s Long-term Plan 2024-2034 has opened for public consultation, giving Aucklanders the chance to have their say on the options and trade-offs that will influence region-wide activities, services and investment.

The Long-term Plan proposal aims to strengthen Auckland’s physical and financial resilience, while tackling big budget challenges. It can be viewed at akhaveyoursay.nz/ourplan.

Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson says this year’s Long-term Plan takes a new approach compared to previous years, by presenting multiple options for consultation – a central proposal and options to do more, or do less.

https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2024/02/long-term-plan-opens-for-consultation/

Kāinga Ora scraps controversial housing development in ski town

Kāinga Ora has scrapped plans for a large intensive housing subdivision in Ohakune, blaming a lack of funding and current economic and market pressures. 

The announcement comes after the plans for the mixed housing development was met with strong opposition from a local community group who claimed it was a waste of taxpayer money and not needed in the small North Island ski town.

The proposed Teitei Drive mixed housing development was announced three years ago and was aimed at meeting “the urgent need for more homes for families in Ohakune”. The plans involved developing a total of 131 residential lots on 9.4 hectares of council land near the Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park.

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/kainga-ora-scraps-controversial-housing-development-in-ski-town-45062

Tech giant Amazon’s $7.5b NZ data centre plan quietly put on hold

Two-and-a-half years ago, Newsroom revealed Amazon was bailing on its plan to shoot its $1.5 billion Lord of the Rings TV series in NZ.

Now, we can report that its even bigger plans to spend $7.5b building data centres around Auckland have been quietly put on hold – though the company isn’t admitting it.

In 2021, with great fanfare, Amazon Web Services had promised customers it would open a so-called “region” of three or more large, interlinked data centres in 2024. These would ensure sensitive government and corporate data was kept safe in New Zealand. Customers spoke excitedly about “data sovereignty” and “the digital transformation of our country”. 

US tech giant Amazon draining Auckland wetlands to build big cloud data centre
But only one consent application to build a data centre is known to have been filed with Auckland Council; contractors were permitted last year to start on geotechnical tests and clearing a small wetland, home to nesting dabchicks.

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/01/amazons-7-5b-nz-data-centre-plan-quietly-put-on-hold/

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