The Auckland Unitary Plan has come under attack from the body representing property professionals, which is calling for it to be "resisted at all costs".
The report released by Auckland Council today sets out a plan to build 422,000 new houses by 2040 by growing the city up and out.
The Property Institute of New Zealand (PINZ) said positive aspects of the plan have been "completely overshadowed" by a number of "bizarre and divisive" recommendations.
"We have a document that appears to be so obsessed with the development of new dwellings that it is prepared to forgo the things which have made Auckland into the world's 3rd most liveable city," CEO Ashley Church says in a press release.
Mr Church says the panel seems to have gone out of its way to offend as many people and groups as possible.
He points to recommendations to delete building demolition controls for pre-1944 houses and to remove some sites of value to Mana Whenua as 'unnecessary acts of cultural vandalism'.
"These recommendations add nothing to the proposed document and any perception that they might somehow speed up the development process is naive and misplaced. Yet their application would progressively rip the soul out of the city on the altar of expediency".
Mr Church says that Aucklanders have a right to expect that the plan setting out the growth of their city should be underpinned by a strong commitment to quality, liveability and respect for the past.
"If it doesn't achieve those things - what's the point?"
Newshub
