Published: 27 July 2026
Author: Chris Walsh – Director (Planning)
Auckland Council’s Policy, Planning and Development Committee voted 17-5 on 21 July 2026 to approve a revised version of Plan Change 120 for a second round of public notification. The plan change will go back out to Aucklanders once new maps and provisions are published, expected in late August 2026.
We’ve covered PC120 through its previous stages: , , and . The 21 July vote decided which version goes back to the public.
What The Committee Decided
The original November 2025 notification aimed for theoretical capacity of around 2 million homes. Government legislation in April 2026 cut Auckland’s mandated minimum to 1.4 million. Council spent mid-2026 weighing two scaled-back options: one closer to that floor, one closer to the original ambition.
The committee chose the larger option, what Mayor Wayne Brown described as a compromise “between those who wanted us to do less and those… who wanted us to do more.” Theoretical capacity now sits at 1.5 to 1.7 million homes, above the 1.4 million legal floor but around 13% below the original 2 million scenario over the next decade, on Council’s own estimate.
Which Areas Gained Or Lost Extra Height And Density
In practice, this decides how many storeys a property can be developed to under the new rules, and whether that’s changed from what was proposed in November 2025.
More than 20 local centres lose the six-storey apartment and terraced housing zoning that was proposed within 200m of their edges. Albany Village, Balmoral, Blockhouse Bay, Grey Lynn, Mt Roskill and Meadowbank are on that list, among others.
Two station-specific changes affect the rail network. Meadowbank’s zone comes down to 6 storeys from the taller height first proposed. Maungawhau’s future station zone shrinks too, after Auckland Transport advised the station will have one entrance instead of three, changing the walkable catchment around it.
Six-storey zoning stays along the busiest bus corridors within 10km of the CBD: Dominion Rd, Sandringham Rd, Great North Rd, Onewa Rd. Ten to 15-storey zoning stays around metropolitan centres and train stations in that same ring, including Ōrākei, Remuera, Glen Innes and 5 stations on the Western Line.
Outside that 10km ring, heights generally drop back to 6 storeys and the extra zoning proposed along outer bus routes comes off. 85% of Auckland properties aren’t touched by any of this. They revert to the existing 2016 Unitary Plan rules.
The Capacity Numbers, Then And Now
Auckland’s current Unitary Plan carries theoretical capacity for around 1.2 million homes. The notified PC120 provisions lift that to 1.5 to 1.7 million.
Where that increase actually lands depends on the areas above, not the overall total. A landowner in a local centre that’s lost its uplift is in a different position to a developer holding land on Dominion Rd, even though both sit inside the same plan change.
User-Friendly Maps Aren’t Available Yet
The version approved on 21 July exists in the committee agenda as static plans, not as an interactive map you can search by address.
Council’s existing PC120 Map Viewer, published 6 June 2026, still shows the original November 2025 provisions rather than the amendments made this week. A proper interactive map showing the amended zones is expected to be live just prior to or at the time of renotification.
The Window To Act
Submissions open in late August 2026 and run for 4 weeks through the AK Have Your Say website. This is a full second notification, not the narrower “further submission” process, so anyone can take part, including people who sat out the first round.
If you submitted in the November-December 2025 round, that submission still stands unless you withdraw it. You can also submit fresh feedback on what’s changed since then.
After submissions close, an independent hearings panel works through them and makes recommendations to Council. Final decisions aren’t expected until mid-2027.
What To Do Now
The practical step is to watch for the formal renotification in late August, then check the new maps against a specific address once they’re published, before the 4-week window closes.
Get in touch if you’d like a hand working through what the amended provisions could mean for a specific property.
About Chris Walsh
Chris Walsh is a Director and Principal Planning Consultant at Tripp Andrews and a Full Member of the New Zealand Planning Institute with extensive experience delivering planning services across urban residential development and subdivision projects throughout Auckland. Drawing on a career that began council-side, he provides strong regulatory insight and a meticulous, detail-focused approach on complex consenting projects, giving clients confidence that every planning requirement is expertly managed.
Photo Credit
Article cover photo by Sulthan Auliya on Unsplash
