Want to know more about the Auckland Unitary Plan? Read our very simple guide.
2010: Auckland Council formed
Auckland Council was formed when the eight previous councils in the region were amalgamated in 2010.
2010: Auckland Council required to develop a unitary plan
Special legislation passed by the government requires Auckland Council to develop a consistent set of planning rules for the whole region.
March-May 2013: public consultation
Auckland Council develops a draft unitary plan after holding 249 public meetings and receiving 21,000 pieces of written feedback.
September 2013-February 2014: proposed unitary plan submission period
The council notifies the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan for submissions. More than 13,000 submissions (including from the public, the government and community groups) are made, with over 1.4 million separate submission points in Auckland’s longest public submission period.
April 2014-May 2016: Unitary plan hearings
An Independent Hearings Panel is appointed by the government to hear the many voices of Aucklanders who submitted on the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan and recommend a plan that would help Auckland deal with the challenges of the next 10 years and beyond.
From September 2014 to mid-May 2016 it holds 249 days of hearings across 60 topics and receives more than 10,000 items of evidence.
22 July 2016: Independent Hearings Panel will present its recommendations on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan to the council
The panel’s recommendations set out any changes the panel thinks should be made to the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. The recommendations take into account all of the submissions and evidence, and the hearings held before the panel over almost two years.
The council will make its decisions on the Auckland Unitary Plan based on what the panel has recommended.
27 July 2016: Independent Hearings Panel recommendations available to the public
Councillors will be briefed on the panel’s recommendations and in the afternoon the media and public will be able to view all of the information provided by the panel on the council website.
10-18 August 2016: Auckland Council makes its decisions on the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Decisions and the decision-making process on the Auckland Unitary Plan will be fully transparent. The council’s decisions will be made in meetings open to the public.
These meetings will also be available to view on the council's live streaming service.
By law, councillors can only consider the panel’s final reports, recommendations and their reasons for making recommendations. They must not consider any information or views that have not been put before the panel during the hearings process
19 August: Auckland Council will notify its final decision on the Auckland Unitary Plan
This will be publicly available on the Auckland Council website
19 August-16 September: Appeals period
There is an appeals period of 20 working days.
The law allows for limited appeals on the council's decisions on the Auckland Unitary Plan to the Environment Court and also allows submitters to appeal to the High Court on points of law only.
