Auckland’s Crater Hill (Ngā Kapua Kohuora) volcanic cone will remain safe from residential development following the High Court’s support for Auckland Council’s decision to protect the area under the Auckland Unitary Plan.
Last week, the High Court declined an appeal made by landowners the Self Family Trust, against the Unitary Plan’s zoning of Crater Hill as rural land outside the Rural Urban Boundary protecting it from urbanisation.
Originally, the Trust appealed against the council’s Unitary Plan decision to the Environment Court seeking to include the land within the Rural Urban Boundary to allow up to 575 houses to be built on certain parts of Crater Hill. The Environment Court declined that appeal in April 2018 and the Trust subsequently appealed to the High Court.
The High Court’s decision means that Crater Hill is protected from the impacts of residential development and future urbanisation as the best-preserved tuff cone in the Auckland volcanic field with significant geological and cultural heritage value.
Planning Committee Chair Councillor Chris Darby said the court’s decision brings finality to the protection of Crater Hill and should be celebrated as an excellent outcome for Auckland.
“The council has remained steadfast over a long period in its commitment to safeguarding Crater Hill in the belief that our Unitary Plan decision to ensure the area remains untouched by future urbanisation was the right approach.
“We are blessed in our city with a remarkable natural environment and volcanic sites such as Crater Hill and coastal areas like Ōkura are unique and irreplaceable landscapes that help to define Auckland.”
Auckland Council has worked closely with local iwi Te Ākitai Waiohua in developing the Unitary Plan provisions to protect Crater Hill and on the legal challenges.
“This is a milestone for us as Te Ākitai Waiohua,” said Karen Wilson, chair of Te Ākitai Waiohua Iwi Authority.
“We remain committed to working collaboratively with Auckland Council on these matters of significance for mana whenua and the wider community.
“The results achieved to date by both parties regarding Crater Hill and the wider cultural landscape is a testament in being able to not only ‘talk the talk’ but to put actions to words and ‘walk the talk,'" she said.
"The outcome achieved is a personal and heartfelt acknowledgement of our collective efforts.”
Besides Crater Hill, Auckland Council also recently agreed to make operative provisions which confirm the Ōkura area as outside the Rural Urban Boundary and zoned as Countryside Living in the in the Auckland Unitary Plan.
This follows the withdrawal of a High Court appeal earlier this year that sought major development in the Ōkura area.
