John MacDonald: Housing intensification is the future

Be careful what you wish for. 

That’s how I’m feeling about the Government giving Christchurch an exemption from the new housing intensification rules, which would have enabled three, three-storey properties to be built on single sections anywhere in the city.

Instead, that level of intensification is going to be limited to certain parts of town, including the city centre, Church Corner, Riccarton, Hornby, Linwood, Shirley, Merivale, Edgeware, and Papanui.

But I think the Government is just letting Christchurch shoot itself in the foot. Because we will, eventually, come to regret it.

Mayor Phil Mauger is delighted though, because the city council pushed back and claimed we were doing enough already on the intensification front.

A few months back, the council agreed to extend the areas where it would be happy to have medium density zoning with three, three storey buildings per section. Then wrote to the Government saying it thought it had gone far enough and requested an exemption from more intensification in other parts of the city.

The council has got what it asked for, and I think we will live to regret it. Because it’s only going to mean one thing: the city expanding beyond where it is now.

Which is why I’ve always said that we need to get over ourselves and accept that greater housing density is the only way forward, especially when we consider the population growth happening here.

And, with the city growing, the options are either growing outwards or upwards.

Whether we want to keep chewing up land and building more to the south, more to the north, and more to the west; or whether we do more with the space we’re occupying at the moment.

Unfortunately, the lack of foresight at our city council —and the government buying-into that lack of foresight— means we’re going to continue expanding. Chewing up good land.

All because we have this old-hat idea that everybody needs and wants the quarter-acre section.

But we’ve got a housing affordability problem in this country and, if you want your kids to be able to afford to buy their own place, it’s not going to be somewhere with a big backyard. So we need more apartments and townhouses – the places you get with greater housing density.

What’s more, putting limits on housing intensification in Christchurch is going to mean more and more houses being built in places like Rolleston and Prebbleton. Which are not in Christchurch, they’re in the Selwyn district, and that will mean more and more people travelling into the city every day, using Christchurch’s roading infrastructure and not paying a bean towards it.

Another reason why this limit on housing intensification in Christchurch is a bad move.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
What's that what's that saying? You know, the saying, the
one about you know, be careful what you wish for,
Be careful what you wish for. And that's how I'm
feeling this morning about the government giving christ Church an
exemption from the new housing intensification rules, which would have
enabled three three story properties to be built on single
sections anywhere in the city. Instead, that level of intensification

(00:38):
is going to be limited to certain parts of town,
including the city center, Church Corner, Rickett and hornby Lynnwood, Shirley,
Mayor Vale Edge where Pampa Nui. But I think the
government is just letting christ Church shoot itself on the
foot because we will eventually come to regret this. I'll

(01:00):
tell you why in a second. Mayor Phil Major. He's
delighted because the City Council of course pushed back and
claimed that all we're doing enough already on the intensification front.
We've got enough of that. And you'll remember how a
few months back the council agreed to extend the areas

(01:21):
where it would be happy to have more dense housing
with three three story buildings per section, largely within a
few kilometers of the four avenues, but also in areas
like Rickett and Hall's, will Belfast Round shopping centers and
what's described as quote walkable distances from core public transport routes.

(01:44):
Then the council wrote a letter to the government saying,
oh that thought we've done enough, We've gone far enough,
and the council requested an exemption from more intensification in
other parts of the city. Well, the Council's got what
it asked for, but I think we will live to
regret this decision because it's only going to be one thing,

(02:08):
the city expanding beyond where it is now, which is
why I've been saying in recent times that we need
to get over ourselves and we need to accept that
greater housing density is the only way forward, especially when
we consider the rate of population growth here. We've got

(02:28):
all these council people, I mean, do they know what
they're doing. We've got all these council people, especially being
on about wanting to grow christ Church. And there was
that billboard that film Major had at Wellington Airport saying
it was very good. I said, you know, the beehive
might be in Wellington, but the buzz is in christ
Church that all these people that we want to come

(02:49):
here and live here are going to need somewhere to live.
And population growth is real in christ Church. I mean
the number is not massive at this point, but they're
real and they're expected to be ongoing in the upwards direction.
Three ninety six thousand is roughly the city's population last year.
It was one point two percent up on the year before,

(03:12):
and over the last five years, population growth in christ
Church has averaged one point three percent annually. Before the
quakes was going the other way, population was declining. And
so with the city growing, the options are either growing
outwards or growing upwards. Whether we want to keep chewing

(03:32):
up land and building more to the south, more to
the north, and more to the west. Do we want
that or do we want to do more with the
space that we're occupying at the moment. Well, unfortunately, the
lack of foresight at our city Council and the government
buying into that lack of foresight means that we're going
to continue expanding, going to continue chewing up good land,

(03:53):
all because we have this old hat idea that everybody
needs and wants the old quarter acre section. But mean
I've got to wake up. We have a housing affordability
problem in this country. Racer section and all that. That's
the thing in the past. So if you want your
kids to be able to afford to buy their own place,
it's not going to be somewhere with a big backyard anymore.

(04:17):
We need more apartments, more townhouses, the places you get
with greater housing density. And what's more, putting limits on
housing intensification in christ Church, it's going to mean more
and more houses being built in places like Rodiston and Prebleton,
which if you haven't noticed, aren't in christ Church. They're

(04:37):
in Selwyn. And that will mean more and more people
traveling into the city every day using christ Church as
writing infrastructure and not paying a bean towards it because
they don't live in christ Church, they live in Selwyn.
So this limit that the government's approved on housing intensification
in christ Church, it is a bad move in my book.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news talks It'd be christ Church from nine am
weekdays or follow of the podcast on iHeartRadio.