My Account
Building activity on the Hibiscus Coast and in Mahurangi has been in steady decline over the past four years, according to figures released by Auckland Council.
Resource consents have fallen from 1424 in 2015/16 to 991 in 2018/19. However, the decline has mainly been on the Hibiscus Coast. In Warkworth, consent numbers have remained relatively stable over the same period, up from 113 to 134. Building consents have followed a similar trend, dropping from 2048 in 2015/16 to 1809 in the 2018/19 financial year. Over the same period, the value of the building consents fell from $864.4 million to $625.7 million. Resource consents north west manager Ian Dobson says the figures reflect a general slowing in development, particularly over the past 18 months.
“Another factor is the Unitary Plan which is more enabling,” he says. “If an application is within parameters, a consent may no longer be necessary. For instance, a minor house unit previously needed a consent, but this is not the case now.”
Mr Dobson said earlier figures would have included large developments such as Millwater. “We’re expecting to see a bigger uptake in resource consents in the Warkworth area in future as the large areas of development forecasted in the Unitary Plan gets underway.” Land use consents, which cover work such as new houses and extensions to dwellings, make up the bulk of resource consents.
Although subdivision activity has slowed, 127 consents were issued in 2018/19 compared to 149 the previous year, 220 in 2016/17 and 187 in 2015/16. Change of condition consents have risen from 65 four years ago to 133 in 2018/19. Likewise, water consent applications have risen from 12 four years ago to 55 in 2018/19.
