Tensions high over Christchurch housing density plans vote

Tensions are running high in Ōtautahi Christchurch as the city council prepares to vote on controversial new national housing density rules.

The rules are also currently being implemented in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington.

A raft of proposed changes included allowing residential housing blocks of up to 10 storeys in some central suburbs and three homes up to three storeys tall built on most residential sections without planning permission.

Ōtautahi locals said the government was trying to force a one-size-fits-all approach on the housing crisis and the new rules would not solve the problem of housing affordability there.

The city would struggle to handle the intensification, Mark Callaghan said.

"I'm not a big fan of it, to be honest. I think intensification in some regards is good but I think what they have planned is just going completely over the top," he said.

"I don't think we've got the underground infrastructure to cope with it."

Michelle's concerns were more focused on the social fabric and character of neighbourhoods.

"One thing that we're finding disappointing is parts of Halswell and around it are still quite rural but we're getting more and more subdivisions. At the moment it's quite a nice area to live in but I think it might get spoilt with too many more people living in the city," she said.

Stella thought it was a balancing act.

"I think some of the older, historic homes still need to be kept. Fair enough if it's an empty section that has remained empty for some time, then more homes need to be built. But I don't think demolishing homes with historic relevance is a good idea," she said.

'Don't force this on us'

Current councillor and mayoral candidate Phil Mauger said he would not be voting for the plan change.

"We have got sewer issues, we've got water issues, we've got stormwater issues in some places, especially in Saint Albans," he said.

"You start intensifying out there, the stormwater can't get away now when it rains, so it's only going to get worse.

"Leave us alone and let us do our thing. Intensify up to the two-storeys, which we're doing at the moment, quite nicely, thanks very much. Don't force this on us."

The vote could be pointless.

Central government had threatened to send in a commissioner to approve the change if the council did not.

Mauger thought it was an example of central government trying to force an Auckland and Wellington problem onto Christchurch.

In the suburb of New Brighton alone, there were already 500 two-storey buildings under construction, he added.

Another mayoral candidate, David Meates, said carefully planned developments in select areas would be better than the current proposal.

"It is something people care passionately about," Meates said.

"Interestingly enough, people are not anti-intensification but they are really opposed to the unplanned, scattered round approach that the current legislation is likely to lead to."

Both candidates said the problem had by far been the most talked about by residents they had met while out campaigning across the city - even more so than the Three Waters Reforms.

Riccarton Bush-Kilmarnock Residents' Association was one of the 17 groups that signed a letter that urged councillors to vote against the change.

Association chair Tony Simons said central government should not bully councillors by threatening to appoint a commissioner to approve the proposal if councillors voted it down.

"This is bad for Christchurch and a council that is trying to do the right thing, I believe, will not be punished by central government for doing that."

He felt the council should have the freedom to create its own solutions to local problems.

"They don't need to defy the government, they just need to say, 'hang on a minute, we need to get this right before we notify', and I think that's reasonable," Simons said.

It was expected Christchurch City Council would make a decision on the new intensification plan by the end of today.