Auckland Can Learn from New Lynn

Where to target brownfield redevelopment of Auckland? Existing town centres like Milford? (the image here is from the website described the proposed redevelopment of the Milford Centre is owned by Milford Centre Limited, a subsidiary company of the New Zealand Retail Property Group Ltd.) Or Belmont?

The public debate is robust. Communities across Auckland are  becoming highly engaged. terms like intensification, densification, high-rise, apartments, medium density, affordable housing, social housing - are being bandied about - sometimes interchangeably.

The Auckland Plan (which ie essentially the 1998 Auckland Growth Strategy) continues to advocate for town centre based development and corridor development. New Lynn was the first of these in Auckland. It combines elements of both strategies - because the town centre of New Lynn is on a railway line.

As you can see in the posting above, in terms of housing, the New Lynn town centre high rise apartment project provides affordable housing. One and two bedroom units. The majority sold off plan. The main demographic is apparently single women - of all ages.

The Milford town centre proposal visualised above has drawn strong criticism from surrounding home owners and Milford Village users. For all sorts of reasons. One fundamental reason for the concern is that Milford is not a "brownfield" in the usual definition. It is not run down neighbourhood. In fact it's the opposite. It's a strong coastal community. A mixed use area with employment, retail, cafes. All sorts of amenity that the existing community appreciates and enjoys.

It does present a development opportunity. But that doesn't mean it is ripe for for intensification in the same way New Lynn was - for example.

This aerial is of the Smales Farm commercial development on the North Shore. It is virtually on top of a Busway Station. And within a few hundred metres are schools, shops and cafes. But almost no accommodation - apart from a retirement village. 

There is a lot of undeveloped land here. Zoned commercial. Not that fantastic for single lot residential development, but full of amenity, jobs, and infrastructure...

This is the perfect site for a few high rise apartment buildings like the one to be built at New Lynn. Ensure there is green space, look at the amenity and public transport and access to schools. They'd sell off the plans just like they have at New Lynn. And they don;t need to be big. think of the views they would have...

This is corridor based development. Alongside a state highway (negative), but with all sorts of other amenity (positive).

Along the Wairau Road a bit from Smales Farm is Wairau valley Industrial Area. More like New Lynn was ion terms of being run down, low rise, ripe for attention - and very few people living there - committed to their leafy quality environment.

These relatively mean streets do provide a lot of employment. But it's a single use zone. There are some retail and cafe opportunities. But this brownfield site lends itself to consideration for medium density, plus some high rise, mixed use development.

There is not the same high quality public transport close by as there is at Smales Farm. But Wairau Road contains good feeder services to the Busway Stations - and these can be improved.

These are the types of land uses that present opportunity for developing something exemplary. Learning from Perth.Adding to a community, rather than taking away...

There's even a Pak,Save. Plenty of good infrastructure...

Auckland council needs a strategy for staging and targeting brownfield redevelopment. It needs to recognise this cannot be left to the market. Intervention will be needed. Public gain will need to be demonstrated - which can be rfecouped just as it was in Perth, and just as it is now - for example - at Hobsonville.

Otherwise it's just going to be more wasteful and expensive rural sprawl.