Plan Change 120 – Notified
Auckland Council’s Plan Change 120 (PC120) was notified on 3 November, and the submission period closes on 19 December 2025. The Streamlined Planning Process (SPP) is being utilised for PC120.
PC120 seeks to manage natural hazards across the region, urban and rural subdivision, and amend regional and district plan rules that will provide for housing intensification particularly along major transport routes, corridors and around centres. It replaces PC78, however the amendments to rules and standards in the City Centre Zone made by PC78 remain in place, and the PC78 Plan Change process continues for the Metropolitan Centre Zone.
Purpose
PC120 seeks to provide for the same residential capacity as PC78 but shift where this capacity is enabled as follows:
· Hazard prone areas have more restrictive planning rules, reducing capacity in these areas.
· Blanket Medium Density Residential Standards allowing for 3 storey housing on most residential sites no longer apply.
· Generally, capacity around the city centre, town centres, rapid transit stops such as train stations and the Northern and Eastern Busways, and frequent bus routes is increased. This includes, but is not limited to, meeting specific government direction for increased building heights around Maungawhau, Kingsland, Morningside, Baldwin Avenue and Mt Albert stations.
· Qualifying matters are specific site or area characteristics that allow the council to modify zone standards where higher capacity on the site or in the area is deemed inappropriate. They are typically to manage development in areas with natural hazards or infrastructure constraints. For example, capacity in Ponsonby, Karangahape Road and Parnell are more constrained, despite their close proximity to rapid transit stop, due to their historic value.
Enabling greater building heights
PC120 seeks to increase residential capacity by enabling greater building heights. Enabled building heights vary across the city and have been determined by the unique characteristics of area. Considered characteristics include an area’s strategic importance, accessibility, proximity to a centre, the role, function and concentration of amenities within that centre, and demand.
PC120 uses the following methods to control building heights:
· Standards for residential and business zones continue to provide a zone-specific maximum building height, detailed in Appendix A.
· In addition, walkable catchments have been identified on the planning maps. These are determined by proximity to the edge of the City Centre and Metropolitan Zones and Rapid Transit Stops rather than by zone boundaries.
· Where a walkable catchment is located within a zone, the zone chapter incorporates additional standards detailing enabled building heights within the walkable catchment, these take precedent over the zone specific heights.
· Walkable catchment standards provide for buildings within the walkable catchment to be at least six storeys (22m) and up to 15 storeys (50m) where deemed appropriate.
· Areas outside walkable catchments can also have six storeys (22m) or more enabled. Specific capacity is determined on a site-by-site basis according to other characteristics within the area, for example adjacency to a Frequent Transit Network corridor.
· Where the plan seeks to provide for alternative heights to those enabled by zone and walkable catchments standards, height variation controls are applied.
· In addition, qualifying matters are applied across the city on a site-by-site basis. These take precedent over other building height standards and, in most cases, reduce enabled building heights.
Natural hazards
PC120 seeks to manage significant risks from natural hazards by proposing a targeted approach to managing these risks in areas that may be affected by flooding, coastal erosion and inundation, and land stability. PC120 proposes to strengthen natural hazard management provisions for residential properties that are at the greatest risk, based on the likelihood and consequences of these hazards. These changes include:
· New rules – Auckland Council proposes new rules within the Natural Hazards chapter of the Unitary Plan, for example, how natural hazard potential consequences are assessed, and mitigation measures proposed to manage risks.
· New mapping – to identify areas that are subject to natural hazards.
· Changes in residential zoning – residential properties that are the greatest risk of natural hazards are proposed to be re-zoned to a lower intensity residential zone.
All proposed rules regarding natural hazards have immediate legal effect and will need to be considered when preparing resource consent applications.
Next steps
Auckland Council have requested 20-months to complete the SPP process and to notify their decision on PC120. Public submissions are open from 3 November to 19 December 2025, followed by hearings in 2026 overseen by a panel. Four members will be appointed by Ministers, with the remaining members to be appointed by the Council.