How Panuku proposes to lead transformation of Auckland

Panuku Development Auckland has cut a shortlist of 9 locations around the region down to 2 that it aims to transform first – the Manukau metropolitan centre & surrounds, and the Onehunga town centre & port.

They’re added to the Tamaki regeneration project (in partnership with the Government) and the Wynyard Quarter, where transformative work is well under way. Panuku will continue to play an active role in supporting the Tamaki project. The others on the shortlist haven’t been forgotten, but have been placed in the unlock & support development categories.

The Panuku proposal, up for endorsement at the Auckland Council Auckland development committee’s meeting on Tuesday, would turn the sidelined centre of southern activity and the industrial back door into front doors. The full list and details about each one are on the committee agenda.

Take away council activity from Manukau, as has happened since the super-city was created in 2010, and without a distinctive heart, “central” Manukau isn’t the centre of anything. It has more business activity around it than other parts of old Manukau City and most other business centres in the region, it has a shopping mall and it’s now got a railway station (on a spur line, which should be the start of a longer future line to the eastern suburbs) with an educational institute above it (one of 5 Manukau Institute of Technology campuses).

Onehunga has been best defined over decades as a great place to tear apart. Though it’s managed to retain a reasonably lively main street and many of its suburban residential streets remain full of character, it lost its beach (recently re-created), and both the beach & the port are the far side of a motorway. Businesses want an enhanced east-west route for freight from Penrose, Mt Wellington & the airport, and opponents don’t want their communities split.

In the name of vibrancy – and in the name of more efficiently traversing the region – Auckland Council has embarked on a bold programme of urban regeneration. It includes electrified rail (some critics say this is old technology and not an answer, but without it the congestion already forcing much of the region’s traffic to a standstill would become total). It also includes cycleways and it includes street design intended to make centres comfortably walkable.

Yet to come is the growth of business relationships within centres that will actually encourage people to walk – or use increasingly efficient public transport to a hub, and then walk.

Panuku said in an outline of its assessment that, as well as taking historic & current market interest into account, it examined how individual sites might morph into larger opportunities within a geographic area.

A key to prioritisation was speed: Which places, where the council could control the outcome, could provide quick wins in 2-3 years, but in the context of longer-term transformation?

The Panuku report said Manukau central & Onehunga “provide the greatest opportunity for Panuku to catalyse high quality urban redevelopment at a scale”, in conjunction with the Crown & the private sector, resulting in:

1. Creation of a well designed, safe & healthy built environment, with good quality public realm
2. An increase in housing supply & residential choices (maintaining existing social housing capacity)
3. Economic development opportunities, and
4. Achievement of certain defined social, environmental, community & economic development goals.

In the report, Panuku strategic projects manager Fiona Knox wrote that the Manukau metropolitan centre & surrounds delivered on:

1. Scale & impact: The metropolitan centre itself has the capacity to receive significant growth & height. Council-owned landholdings and possible Housing NZ partner opportunities will provide scale & joint brand potential. Some council-owned sites are ready to go after the Panuku masterplan process. The local board supports growth & change in this area
2. Key landholdings:Auckland Council owns a number of sites in the centre of Manukau which it can use, in partnership with private developers, to increase the housing supply in the area in the form of mixed-use housing & commercial buildings, shops, and to improve connections around the area between homes, public spaces, public transport & the town centre
3. Ability to leverage off previous investment: Government investment in social infrastructure, recent investment from Auckland Transport in public transport infrastructure
4. Market/commercial viability: Traditionally a challenging area to generate market interest; however some apartments in the area have been well received
5. Partnership potential: Housing NZ owns a large amount of land within 8-10km of the centre. There is a significant opportunity for Panuku to work with Government organisations, in partnership with developers, to create largescale change in a much wider area by unlocking the current Housing NZ sites in conjunction with the upgrade of the town centre. At the least, Panuku will focus on the metropolitan centre itself with a roughly 3km radius around it. This is the basis of current recommendations
6. Proximity to public transport: Connected to rail & bus, with frequency improvements still to be made.

Also based on the Panuku criteria, Ms Knox said Onehunga delivered on:

1. Scale & impact:Changing the port of Onehunga to a more mixed-use precinct is seen as the key to the regeneration opportunity in Onehunga. This sale had been progressed by Auckland Council Property Ltd, is not yet fully completed, but expected to be soon. This is 4ha of property (wharf & waterspace) that Panuku will have sole influence over. Being able to link the port to the town centre and to Maungakiekie-One Tree Hill through quality networks presents a scale & impact opportunity that has not been able to be considered to date. The local board supports growth & change in this area
2. Key land holdings:Panuku could use council landholdings in the town centre and the Onehunga port to enable the development of high quality, mixed styles of housing close to the town centre, public transport & the water’s edge. The port land offers opportunities to offer access to, and better use of, the waterspace on the Manukau Harbour which has traditionally not received as much attention as the Waitemata
3. Ability to leverage off previous investment: There has been a significant amount of public investment in Onehunga to improve connections to public transport, including a new rail station, and around $29 million of council & NZ Transport Agency funding to open up the Manukau Harbour edge. Future investment includes the east-west link (NZ Transport Agency), which is proposed to improve freight efficiency. However, the current designation will sterilise the port site & waterfront to the east. This will be an area for Panuku to influence
4. Market/commercial viability: This area has not yet reached its market potential, and it would be the role of Panuku to stimulate interest & activity
5. Partnership potential: There is Housing NZ land near the town centre and a potential opportunity for Panuku to work with Government organisations in this location
6. Proximity to public transport:  Connected to rail & bus networks, with frequency improvements still to be made.

Panuku will be operating in 17 locations, some requiring a long-term custodial approach (10 years-plus) over a wider geographical area, others will be on a site-specific basis and requiring a shorter-term involvement.

One of the “places” on the unlock list is actually the council’s network of villages to house the elderly (now called older persons), which would be a regionwide project. The council owns 1412 of these rental units in 62 villages covering 26ha, unevenly distributed around the region – 686 in the south, 458 in the north, 268 in the west. Ms Knox wrote: “Elements of the stock have significant redevelopment potential. It is the intent of Panuku that this stock should at least double the provision of housing, including at least current social housing & additional affordable housing. This will offer significant opportunities to deliver on the council’s housing action plan and the organisation’s objectives around housing, affordability, intensification & town centre regeneration. There is also a new model to enable Government subsidies.”

The 3 categories up for endorsement on Tuesday are:

Transform:

• Wynyard Quarter
• Manukau Metropolitan Centre and surrounds
• Onehunga Town centre and Port
• Tamaki regeneration (in partnership)

Unlock:

• Takapuna town centre
• Northcote town centre & surrounds (including Housing NZ block)
• City centre
• Old Papatoetoe town centre
• Henderson town centre
• Hobsonville
• Ormiston town centre & nearby sites in Flatbush
• Housing for older persons network of villages

Support:

• Mt Eden (Dominion & Valley Rds)
• Whangaparaoa (Link Crescent)
• New Lynn
• Avondale
• Pukekohe
• Stonefields (Morrin, Merton & Donnelly Rds)
• Howick (Fencible Drive)
• Otahuhu

Link: Committee agenda

Attribution: Committee agenda.