Proposals to unlock significantly more housing, jobs and economic activity in Auckland’s city centre are being put out for public consultation, building on the opening of the City Rail Link and the opportunity it creates for more growth in the heart of Auckland, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop, Auckland Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown have announced.

“City Rail Link has transformed the way Aucklanders can get into and around the central city. The next step is making sure our planning rules support Auckland to take full advantage of that investment, by allowing more people and businesses to locate close to world-class transport infrastructure,” Mr Bishop says.

“Auckland’s city centre is already an economic powerhouse. It accounts for around eight per cent of New Zealand’s GDP and nearly six per cent of the country’s jobs. If the city centre were a region in its own right, it would be the fifth-largest economy in New Zealand.

“There is enormous potential for it to grow further. Earlier this year, we launched an investigation into whether Auckland’s city centre planning rules were holding that growth back, and that work is now complete.

“The report recommends removing several planning restrictions that constrain how the city centre can develop, including height limits, tower dimension and setback rules, and floor area ratios.”

Economic modelling indicates the recommend changes could support:

“These changes could be made under the new regulation-making power in the Resource Management Act, passed into law last year through the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill.

“This power was first used last year after an investigation found planning rules were unnecessarily limiting Eden Park’s ability to host major events and deliver jobs and economic growth for Auckland and the rest of the country. This resulted in plan changes enabling more events at New Zealand’s national stadium.”

“This is exactly where we should be enabling more growth – in the centre of our biggest city, close to jobs, services and billions of dollars of existing and newly opened infrastructure,” Mr Watts says.

“The report also recommends removing non-contributing sites from the Karangāhape Road Historic Heritage Area. These are sites within the heritage area that do not themselves make a significant contribution to its recognised heritage values, often because they have already been substantially altered or redeveloped.

“This would create greater opportunities for redevelopment on sites with limited heritage value, while continuing to protect the buildings and places that give Karangāhape Road its distinctive character.”

Mayor Wayne Brown says the proposals are a practical way to make the most of what Aucklanders have already paid for, and put growth where infrastructure is.

“I’ve consistently said Auckland needs to intensify in the right places. That means enabling more homes and businesses close to rapid transit, jobs and existing infrastructure.

“I welcome the government's moves to unlock more housing capacity in Auckland's city centre, get rid of heritage protections from non-heritage buildings on Karangāhape Road and remove seismic constraints. Now I look forward to the government tackling other planning controls in the future, such as fire rules.

“We have invested billions of dollars in the City Rail Link and in the roads, pipes and other infrastructure that supports the central city. Our planning rules should help us get the best possible return from that investment.

“Our job now is not just to enable capacity, but to actually ensure things get built so we can make the most of CRL and grow the city centre into a place more Aucklanders choose to visit, live and work in.”

Public consultation on the proposed changes will run from 18 September until 11.59pm on Friday 16 October 2026.

“We want Aucklanders, particularly people who live and do business in the city centre, to have their say,” Mr Bishop says.

“Following consultation, we will consider the feedback alongside the investigation findings and Auckland Council’s views before deciding whether changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan should proceed.”Notes to editor: