John Tookey: AUT Future Environments Professor on the Government instructing Auckland to allow 15 storey buildings around train stations

The Government's instructed Auckland Council to allow apartments at least 15 storeys high near key City Rail Link train stations.  

Density requirements around the Mt Albert and Baldwin Ave stations require at least 10 storey apartments, and requirements around the Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside rail terminals have been increased from six storeys to 15. 

Simeon Brown and Chris Bishop say it will ensure Auckland takes economic advantage of the transformational investment in the city. 

AUT Future Environments Professor John Tookey told Mike Hosking that even the proposition of consenting a 15 storey building in the middle of a city isn’t a five minute undertaking. 

His suspicion is it will take at least a decade to see any kind of measurable mass urban densification around the stations. 

He also told Hosking that the Government’s interference in running Auckland is likely to cause significant political issues.  

Tookey says NIMBY-type arguments will likely crop up: why here, who’s going to fund it, and how will it impact everyone else in the area? 

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