Red tape rules

Louis Houlbrooke tweets:

The pictured planned infill development in Te Atatu (seven townhouses) includes a footpath (circled) connecting the units.

LINZ’s rules class this footpath as a *road*, because it connects more than six units. This means it needs a *name*. 2/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

The developer isn't fussed about the name for their new "lane". They'd be happy to just address the units for the existing street, e.g. 1/45 Vera Rd, 2/45 Vera Rd, etc. But rules are rules. 3/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Here is Auckland Council’s 16-page document explaining the rules and application process for naming a lane (or in this case, a footpath).https://t.co/x2GdROesNF 4/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Before the formal application process for a road name even begins, the Council advises the developer to seek ideas from the community (i.e. heritage groups, special interest groups, resident associations, mana whenua, etc). 5/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Once the council writes back to confirm the names are acceptable, the application is then put on hold while council staff liaise with mana whenua for feedback. New suggestions from mana whenua become options for the ‘road’ name. 7/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Now, the developer must complete a 13-point checklist, including: application form, resource consent details, site plan, three name options w/ explanations of meaning and local relevance, evidence of community/mana whenua consultation, permissions from namesake kin, & more. 8/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

The full application is then submitted to Council staff, who assess it all for compliance with Auckland Council Road Naming Guidelines, and produce a summary report for the local board. 9/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

At its next meeting, the local board reviews the report, and has full discretion to reject names, defer a decision, and even undertake its own consultation. 10/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Board members and members of the public can (and do) use this ‘final’ stage of the process to obstruct progress on a development they oppose for unrelated reasons. 11/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

 

The entire process, which must be completed after gaining a resource consent and before building begins, can take NINE TO TWELVE MONTHS, as experienced in this thread's example. 12/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

I’m writing this from a developer’s perspective, but we should remember that ratepayers are paying council staff to administrate almost every stage of this mess.

The exception is of course signage, which the developer is expected to arrange and install. For a footpath. 13/13

— Louis Houlbrooke (@louishoulbrooke) October 17, 2019

Anyone seeking causes for New Zealand’s poor productivity, housing shortage and high cost of building should start here.