Survey of residential and business special character areas
Andrew Punnett made this Official Information request to Auckland Council
The request was refused by Auckland Council.
From: Andrew Punnett
Dear Auckland Council,
Please send me the methodologies for the survey of residential and business character areas that was recently performed to support changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Please also send me all correspondance relating to the remit of the survey and any correspondance that indicates what outcomes were preferred.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Punnett
From: Official Information
Auckland Council
Kia ora Andrew
Thank you for your request for information pertaining to the survey of
residential and business character areas.
I have attached an information sheet on our processes and requirements
under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
We will respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no
later than 20 working days after the day your request was received. This
will be by 19 May 2022.
If you have further questions please feel free to contact Grace Ray
([1][email address]) on 09 301 0101, quoting reference
8140010234.
Ngā mihi,
The Privacy and LGOIMA team
Auckland Council
From: Andrew Punnett <[FOI #19178 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 20 April 2022 9:32 am
To: Official Information <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Survey of residential and business
special character areas
Dear Auckland Council,
Please send me the methodologies for the survey of residential and
business character areas that was recently performed to support changes to
the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Please also send me all correspondance relating to the remit of the survey
and any correspondance that indicates what outcomes were preferred.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Punnett
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show quoted sections
From: Grace Ray
Auckland Council
Good morning Andrew,
In terms of your below request, I have liaised with experts who have asked
if you could please clarify what exactly you are looking for. We are not
sure what you mean by ‘the remit of our survey or our preferred outcomes’.
The methodologies you requested are uploaded to the website. The link to
the methodologies is here:
[1]https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.go...
They are included under “supporting information”, which is in the lower
right-hand column of the page.
If you could please get back to be ASAP that would be fantastic.
Kind Regards,
Grace Ray
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
From: Andrew Punnett <[FOI #19178 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 20 April 2022 9:32 am
To: Official Information <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Survey of residential and business
special character areas
Dear Auckland Council,
Please send me the methodologies for the survey of residential and
business character areas that was recently performed to support changes to
the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Please also send me all correspondance relating to the remit of the survey
and any correspondance that indicates what outcomes were preferred.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Punnett
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[2][FOI #19178 email]
Is [3][Auckland Council request email] the wrong address for
Official Information requests to Auckland Council? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[4]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[5]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
show quoted sections
From: Andrew Punnett
Dear Grace Ray,
Thanks for the prompt reply. Sorry I wasn’t more clear in my initial request.
By correspondence regarding the remit I mean correspondence that relates to how the survey process was defined, why it was defined in that way and how it changed over time (if it did indeed change).
By correspondence about preferred outcomes I mean any correspondence that mentions what the end result of the survey was expected or preferred to be. For example, whether it should result in Special Character Areas that are substantially the same as equivalent areas defined in the Auckland Unitarty Plan.
If you think it we’ll takeaway while to gather all the correspondence, then please send me what you can now and then update me at a later date. I’d like to have the methodologies ASAP, so I can use them in response to the preliminary plan, which is due before 9th May.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Punnett
From: Andrew Punnett
Dear Grace Ray,
My interest in the survey is not limited to the way individual properties were scored, it also extends to the choice of area boundaries and the choice of the 75% and 66% coverage figures that were used to determine whether an area had enough strongly contributing properties to be marked as a Special Character Area (SPC).
Please include correspondence relating to those in your response. If you'd prefer me to make a seperate request for those details, then please let me know and I will make a seperate request.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Punnett
Auckland Council
Dear Andrew
Thank you for your request for information regarding the survey of residential and business areas
If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting Official Information Request No 8140010234.
Please note you have the right to request a review of this decision from the Ombudsman.
Kind regards
Grace Ray
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
Governance Services
[Can you candidate? You can. Visit voteauckland.co.nz.]<https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/elec...>
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From: Andrew Punnett
Dear Grace,
Thanks for uploading the survey methodologies document.
Please ask the team to double-check that there is absolutely no correspondance about the remit of the survey. The survey was a large and complex project and it seems very odd that it was designed without any discussions. For example, how were the criteria settled upon and how were the 66% and 75% coverage figures chosen.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Punnett
From: Grace Ray
Auckland Council
Kia ora Andrew,
Thank you for your email. I can confirm the team consider there was no
correspondence on the remit of the survey.
Your email below asks two different questions, being:
1. the criteria used in the methodology for survey
2. the setting of thresholds to assess the survey results.
Again the team has confirmed there is no correspondence about these two
issues. These matters were subject to in-persons discussions & the
decisions were based on expert opinion.
To be helpful however, the team has pulled together the following
information about the process undertaken for these two matters.
CRITERIA:
The Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) (chapter B5) provides that special
character areas are identified and evaluated against two criteria: legacy
(including historical), and physical and visual qualities. These criteria
formed the basis for the development of criteria for this survey. As they
are, however, these two criteria are too high-level for the site-specific
analysis that is required by the National Policy Statement – Urban
Development (NPS-UD). The criteria needed to be broken down into component
values, and this was achieved through the Special Character Statements
which are included in Schedule 15 of the AUP.
All special character areas have a Special Character Statement. The
purpose of the Special Character Statement is to identify the character
values of each overlay area and explain their significance under a number
of headings. These headings, such as Built Form, Architectural Value,
Urban Structure, Vegetation and Historical Context, cascade directly from
the criteria in Chapter B5 of the AUP.
Based on the Special Character Statements, a number of criteria were
developed through an iterative process. Draft criteria were piloted and
the resulting data were sense-checked. The core values that were assessed
did not change throughout the piloting process; changes were only made to
ensure values were weighted equally and not double-counted.
After testing, five criteria were selected:
• Scale – to assess whether properties are of a compatible
scale, including height and massing
• Relationship to the street – to assess how properties relate
to the street and other buildings and features, including setback,
boundary treatments, garaging and carports
• Period of development – to assess whether properties were
substantially constructed during the period of significance or a
compatible period of development
• Typology – to assess whether properties are a compatible
typology within their historic context
• Architectural style – to assess whether the style of a
building is compatible with the character of the area and period of
significance
Information on the context of an area, including subdivision patterns,
roading patterns and streetscape are included in the findings report for
each area.
THRESHOLDS:
In July 2021, Auckland Council’s Planning Committee resolved that special
character of high quality was a qualifying matter under Subpart 6 3.32(1)
of the NPS-UD.
In the AUP, special character areas must meet both criteria in Chapter B5
(legacy/historical and physical and visual qualities) to be included in
the plan, however the plan does not have a threshold in relation to these
criteria. Additionally, the term “high-quality” is not defined or used in
the plan in relation to special character. In the absence of statutory
thresholds and definitions, an understanding of what “high-quality” means
was developed for this project.
The figure of 75% was developed based on the following special character
considerations:
• The threshold must be sufficiently high to be robust.
Artificially lowering the definition of “high” would result in the
retention of a higher number of lesser quality character areas
• A threshold that is too high will create fragmentation within
the overlay, undermining its purpose and intent as an area-based
control
• The threshold must recognise that the AUP enables some change
in special character areas. Setting the threshold too high would
create an implication that change in these areas is not appropriate, which
is contrary to the plan.
Based on these considerations, a provisional threshold was established. A
special character area of high-quality was determined to be an area
containing at least 75% strongly contributing properties. This number was
then compared to thresholds that were established for similar projects and
was determined to be appropriate.
In March 2022, Auckland Council’s Planning Committee determined that for
the purposes of public engagement, the threshold should be amended to: 75%
(or “high-quality”) of properties strongly contributing to the value of
the area within walkable catchments and 66% (or “special character”) of
properties strongly contributing to the value of the area outside walkable
catchments.
The figure of 66%, which signals the presence of special character values,
was also established based on precedents set by similar projects both in
New Zealand and overseas. It is generally accepted that for an area to
convey its values as a cohesive area of special character, at least 66%
(or two out of every three) individual properties need to contribute.
If you have any further questions, please contact the heritage unit
directly through [1][email address]
Kind Regards,
Grace Ray
Senior Privacy & Official Information Business Partner
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