About us
Part 2: Strategic priority two: Demonstrate housing development best practice
Strategic priority definition
This priority is about using the Corporation's mandate for land and property development to contribute to the Government's objectives by undertaking urban development projects in cooperation with local government and other agencies, where appropriate. We will also look for opportunities to demonstrate best practice and influence the design and development of affordable housing.
This priority covers the Corporation's role as property and land developer.
The Corporation is actively involved in the transformation of New Zealand's urban environment by promoting new land and property developments and actively participating in local government planning processes. This emerging role has a number of drivers, such as the need to deliver quality state housing at competitive rates, or to respond to the Corporation's wider mandate to help create sustainable and successful new communities.
The Corporation is the agent under the Housing Act 1955 to administer social housing transactions on behalf of the Minister of Housing. There are two significant transactions related to this agency: Hobsonville and Weymouth.
Key activities
- Delivering integrated urban development (Hobsonville).
- Delivering greenfields developments (Papakura and Weymouth).
- Applying best practice to state housing redevelopment.
- Influencing urban design, zoning and planning.
The Hobsonville Land Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation, will continue to translate the Government's vision for the old Hobsonville airbase site into a commercially-realistic development.
The vision for Hobsonville is (within the parameters of the Housing Act) to set new benchmarks for sustainable urban development and build a community that is available to people from all sectors of society.
Hobsonville will:
- protect and enhance the Waitemata environment
- promote innovative strategies to reduce waste, save energy and harness the full potential of information and communication technology
- demonstrate the commercial viability of sustainable urban development that includes people of all ages, households and incomes
- support an effective regional transport network
- provide housing densities that support the Auckland region's vision for managing growth in the twenty-first century
- generate local employment and contribute to Auckland's economic growth
- be a great place to live and work.
Specific performance measures will be developed in conjunction with the next business case to reflect the key deliverables contained in the first stage of development.
| Total revenue other for integrated urban development | $1.338m |
| Total operating cost for integrated urban development | $1.338m |
Greenfields developments
Weymouth
The Corporation and the Ministry of Education identified 16 hectares of land on Weymouth Road, Manukau, South Auckland for housing and education purposes. The Corporation and the Ministry of Education have agreed to work together on a master plan for the site.
The Weymouth project will provide around 160 homes, half of which will be retained for Corporation rental properties, with the balance being offered to modest-income earners as a home ownership opportunity.
Our preference is to work closely with a social housing provider, or other equity partner, during the land development and housing construction phases. This will help to minimise further calls on Crown capital to fund the land development phase and share development risks. The project is expected to take about three years.
Key activities the Corporation will undertake during 2006/07 to progress the Weymouth project include:
- developing a master plan for the site
- identifying and concluding negotiations with a social housing provider or other equity partner
- applying for resource consent.
Once the partner arrangements and resource consents are in place, initial earthworks and land development work will begin. The Corporation will periodically report on the progress of the Weymouth project over the course of the 2006/07 financial year.
Papakura
Twenty-four hectares of land in South Auckland were purchased for a development project in Papakura. The objectives of the project are to create a benchmark for providing integrated public and private housing and to ensure a balanced and sustainable community. To reduce commercial risk, it is intended the development will be undertaken by a third party developer. The land is expected to generate between 420 and 450 residential sites. The Corporation intends to take long-term ownership of about 30 percent of these sites.
The Corporation will continue commercial negotiations with the selected 'preferred supplier'. Once completed, the developer is expected to:
- design and describe the proposed urban outcome
- respond to any concerns the community may have about the proposals
- lodge the stage one resource consent with the local council.
We will periodically report on the progress of negotiations with the preferred supplier over the course of the 2006/07 financial year.
| Total operating costs for greenfields development | $0.730m |
Applying best practice to state housing redevelopment
The Corporation's Development Guide and associated design guides are a practical response to the challenge of raising the design standards of social housing provided in New Zealand.
The performance-based design guides promote good design principles using a holistic approach based on understanding the needs of the users and the requirements of the Corporation. The guides provide principles and standards that promote design excellence aimed at raising the standard of housing that the Corporation supplies.
The Corporation will use its Development Guide and associated design guides when planning redevelopments of state housing, primarily in Auckland. We will assess the quality of the redevelopments against our design and quality standards.
| Performance measure | 2006/07 targets |
|---|---|
| All developments will reference and consider the Development Guide and seek to meet the Corporation's specifications | 100% |
Table 16: STATE HOUSING REDEVELOPMENT: REVENUE AND COST SUMMARY
| Total operating cost for applying best practice to state housing redevelopment | $0.583m |
Influencing urban design, zoning and planning
As a signatory to the Urban Design Protocol, the Corporation produced an action plan on urban design in 2005. The plan reflects the Corporation's commitment to specific initiatives aimed at producing high quality urban design developments. The actions involve input from all areas of the Corporation, from strategy development and decision-making to research and staff training.
The actions include:
- championing urban design and raising awareness
- developing strategy and policy
- planning for the future
- being a good client
- making decisions
- exchanging information and research
- integrating management
- building capacity.
The Corporation will develop, during 2006/07, a structure plan for redevelopment on Corporation land within the Auckland region, and an urban design review process to assess new developments. We will periodically report on the progress of these developments over the course of the 2006/07 financial year.
| Total operating cost for influencing urban design, zoning and planning | $0.377m |
