Andrew Dickens: The jungle drums are starting to thrum for the fast-track regime

Author: Andrew Dickens ,
Publish Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2026, 6:07am

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Well, the jungle drums are starting to thrum for the fast-track regime.

Word on the street is that legal action is coming for a number of the proposals currently before the committee.

Meanwhile, there was a fiery Auckland Council meeting yesterday full of anger at residential fast-track developers.

Mayor Wayne Brown has vowed to be a thorn in the side of subdivisions looking to circumvent the council, considering telling fast-track developers —and future residents— it won’t provide or fund basic services to them.

The problem is the developers are using the new system to gazump planning rules.

Fast-track was designed to speed up the process of getting consents, but not to supplant the regulations currently in place.

There's been a stampede by housing developers who want quick consents, but they also want more latitude for their plans.

A prime example is the re-development of the Devonport township.

The developers there have proposed a series of eight storey buildings, but the Unitary Plan currently only allows four.

That's got locals concerned that the picturesque main road will be overwhelmed, but they'll have no say.

The fast-track is there to make the gaining of consents faster, but not to fundamentally change the plan that's currently in place.

The great success so far is the Port of Tauranga, whose plan was stuck in bureaucratic limbo for seven years. Now in a matter of months the plan has been approved, but it is still a plan that adheres to planning regulations in place.

So expect some expensive legal action as locals and councils put the spanner in the works of the developers trying to push the boundaries for a quick buck.