Councils refuse to go out. Or up.

The incoming government wants to build more housing ‘out’ (as urban sprawl) than ‘up’, but councils are rejecting attempts at both. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: Councillors and mayors in our two fastest growing cities have just pulled the plug on a National-ACT plan to build ‘out’ rather than ‘up’ by rejecting plans for more sprawling ‘greenfields’ developments, but they have also dialled back on up-zoning needed to add enough ‘brownfields’ homes for an extra 110,000 people per year.

In effect, councils have gone on an infrastructure investment strike in protest at the broken infrastructure funding relationship between central and local Government. The missing part of the response from councils to intense population growth pressure on their finances is a direct challenge the Beehive that it either provides the capital to fund the population growth it profits from, or it should stop the population growth.

Elsewhere in the news today:

• Waka Kotahi/NZTA has put on hold $305 million of spending through councils on cycleways, walkable neighbourhoods and public transport to reduce emissions because it says “it needs a clear direction from the incoming government on its transport investment priorities”; RNZ

• Public transport advocates criticised the stalling of the funding from the Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as unacceptable from an agency supposed to have some statutory independence; and, RNZ

• Oranga Tamariki’s uplifts of children fell from 963 in 2018 to 251 last year, Jehan Casinader reports for Stuff this morning.

Paying subscribers can see more detail below the paywall fold and hear more of my analysis in the podcast above.

Councils won’t grow out. Or up. Or demand less migration.