Chair appointed to lead Proposed Plan Change 120 independent hearings panel

Auckland Council has announced the appointment of Sarah Shaw as chair of the independent hearings panel for Proposed Plan Change 120: Housing Intensification and Resilience to the Auckland Unitary Plan. 

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown welcomes the appointment. 

“Sarah's background in chairing hearings and navigating complex planning and resource management issues makes her well-suited to lead this work on behalf of Aucklanders. I also look forward to a well-chaired panel to receive these submissions." 

Mayor Brown says Aucklanders have a lot to consider. 

“We must intensify where it makes sense around transport hubs and where we have invested significantly in infrastructure. We must be able to downzone flood plains. Aucklanders can now have their say on all this, and it will be the panel’s job, chaired by Sarah, to consider what the public has to say before the recommendations are made to the council." 

The independent hearings panel will oversee hearings on all submissions made on Plan Change 120, which strengthens rules to manage natural hazards, like flooding, and implements central government requirements for more housing capacity. 

The panel will make recommendations to the council on proposed changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan, and the council will then decide whether to accept or reject those recommendations. 

Final decisions are expected by mid-2027. 

The independent hearings panel is set up under the directions issued by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform and the Minister of Conservation.  

It will be made up of nine members, with four members appointed by the government and the remaining five members, including the chair, to be appointed by Auckland Council.  

Members will bring expertise in planning, natural hazards, law, Infrastructure, economics, design, landscape, cultural values and tikanga Māori. 

Councillor Richard Hills is chair of Auckland Council’s Policy and Planning Committee. He says the panel plays a key role in ensuring fair planning decisions are made.

“An independent hearings panel makes sure planning decisions are made impartially and based on evidence, by a panel of leading experts in their field. Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this process for Plan Change 120.” 

About Sarah Shaw

Sarah Shaw has more than twenty-five years of advocacy experience in environmental and resource management law, public and local government law. 

Sarah is a barrister, Gambling Commissioner, and accredited RMA Hearings Commissioner, regularly appointed by councils to chair hearings on housing, infrastructure and environmental projects. 

For the past two years, Sarah has been the Deputy Chair of Auckland’s Plan Change 78 Independent Hearings Panel. She has extensive experience in RMA district and regional plan development, resource consenting and designations.  

Prior to becoming a barrister in 2017 Sarah worked for nearly ten years at Northland law firm Thomson Wilson Law and for several years in the UK at Transport for London.