Over the next few months, Auckland Council will take the first steps to engage and consult Aucklanders on work to strengthen how the Auckland Unitary Plan addresses natural hazards, including flooding, erosion and landslides.
Councillor Richard Hills, Chair of the Policy and Planning Committee, explains how a process known as deliberative democracy will be used to consult with a representative sample of Aucklanders.
“The deliberative democracy process allows us to gain insights from Aucklanders on what can be quite a complicated subject. We’re early in the engagement and consultation process for the plan change, but doing this work means we’re able to capture the views of Aucklanders as it shapes up. As a result, our communities’ views are considered at different stages, rather than just through the Resource Management Act submissions process.
“It’s also one of the steps we can take to get feedback from Aucklanders while we wait for changes that the government is making to legislation, so we can change the Auckland Unitary Plan to better deal with natural hazards. Even though we’ve heard loud and clear our communities want urgent action since our devastating floods and storms in 2023, we cannot move forward on this until the government changes the law to allow us to do so.”
What is deliberative democracy?
Deliberative democracy allows a diverse group of people to learn about a topic in detail, before coming to a collective decision to answer a question. Aucklanders will take part in this process, and will represent the demographics, needs and interests of those living in the region.
Participants are randomly selected beforehand, so they represent the wide-ranging views of Aucklanders. The process is often used to gain views on complex topics. It allows participants to have fair and reasonable discussions, share their views, hear the views of others and deliberate before coming to a collective view at the end of the process.
These views are then collated with others gained from across Auckland’s communities to give direction on the next stages of the plan change.
What is being asked?
Phill Reid, Manager Aucklandwide Planning, explains that participants will get an overview of why the work to strengthen the Unitary Plan is needed and what it could entail, saying that they will also discuss changing the Auckland Unitary Plan to better address the risks that natural hazards pose.
“While the Unitary Plan can’t stop natural hazards from happening, there are rules and regulations we can add or change to strengthen it against the risks from those hazards. Before we can do this work, we need to understand the level of risk that Aucklanders feel is tolerable or intolerable - this will influence any new rules or restrictions that are brought in and this is what participants will be asked to come to a consensus on.
“For example, should new homes be able to be built in areas subject to flooding at all? If the group decides they should, then we need to look at what changes we can make to planning rules that don’t negatively impact those living there, their neighbours and their properties.
“We know Aucklanders would like the Unitary Plan to address natural hazards – and we were given this direction by the council’s Planning, Environment and Parks Committee in mid-2023. The insight we get from this type of engagement will help shape up the next steps.”
Would you like take part in future deliberative democracy processes?
Deliberative democracy is a form of engagement Auckland Council uses on different topics ahead of a full consultation or submissions process. If you’d be interested in taking part in this kind of process, you can let us know here.
