Salesa Jenny; Mallard TrevorURBAN DEVELOPMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon JENNY SALESA (Minister for Building and Construction) on behalf of the Minister for Urban Development: I move That the Urban Development Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Environment Committee to consider the bill. Recently this House established Kāinga Ora a new Crown agency with two core roles: being a world-class public housing landlord and leading and coordinating urban development projects. It will be a powerful delivery entity capable of integrated urban development that provides a mix of public affordable and open-market housing. This bill the Urban Development Bill provides Kāinga Ora the tools it needs to undertake large-scale developments at scale and pace to transform our urban areas build public and affordable housing and create sustainable inclusive and thriving communities. Traditionally New Zealand cities and towns have grown by turning neighbouring rural land into suburban housing in a largely ad hoc manner. What New Zealand has not traditionally done well is plan for our growth over 30 years. Through our Urban Growth Agenda the Government is currently working with high-growth councils to prepare 30-year spatial plans that plan for urban growth and align the transport three waters and amenity infrastructure required to create sustainable and thriving cities. A core part of planning for growth is to have a permissive planning regime that enables high-quality intensification around fast and frequent public transport infrastructure and we need our cities to grow both up and out. The draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development will direct council to allow our cities to grow up and out and remove some of the more restrictive planning rules that cause high land prices. This second-generation urban development is common overseas as cities age and grow and new pressures emerge but it is relatively new to New Zealand. Quality intensification that creates beautiful and well-designed cities is crucial to the future of all of our cities. This could involve repurposed large blocks of industrial or underutilised land like that recently acquired at Unitec Hobsonville Point or Britomart in Auckland or intensifying low-density suburbs like what we see in Roskill or Tāmaki. This brownfield and greyfield development is often too difficult and risky for developers and the private sector to do on their own. There are multiple landowners each with their own interests. There is often significant investment required to upgrade poor-quality ageing or at-capacity infrastructure so that it can service a new larger population. Resource Management Act plans often restrict greater density or the process to change them is slow uncertain or cumbersome. This bill will enable Kāinga Ora to undertake a special type of complex transformational development called specified development projects or SDPs either by itself or in partnership with iwi local government or the private sector. It would also be able to have access to a tool kit of development powers when undertaking SDPs and these include a streamlined and cut-through resource management planning and consenting process; powers to build and change infrastructure such as roads three waters and public transport; the ability to levy or charge local residents to fund infrastructure and development activities; and the ability to reconfigure reserves and create new parks and the important public infrastructure that makes a suburb a community. It would also be able to have access to land acquisition powers when undertaking any urban development whether that project is a specified development project or more generally part of the Government build programme. Woven between and underpinning the various powers in the bill there are a few core ideas. These are public and affordable housing that are at the heart of our urban development agenda. They are places where generations of young families have come to get a start in life and to put down roots in their community. We're strengthening this promise. We believe Government should be an enabler of urban development to partner with the private sector local government or iwi to build rather than crowd out or replace the private sector. My message to developers is that we want to help you grow. We understand your constraints. We want to work together with you on the solutions. We want to implement good urban design and develop well-connected communities with great transport connections vibrant town centres community infrastructure and affordable homes. Mana whenua are at the heart of these developments as developers as builders housing providers and partners. Creating an urban development authority (UDA) has been considered in New Zealand for some time. In their final term the Clark Labour Government created a sustainable urban development unit prepared Cabinet papers and released a discussion document. Since then the Productivity Commission has published three reports highlighting the need for an urban development authority to address New Zealand's housing supply and urban development issues. In 2017 as the national housing crisis became most acute the previous National Government also released a discussion document on establishing a UDA. This bill delivers on this work. It has been a long time coming and the policy work is complex. This complexity means I'm very much looking forward to the select committee process. There is a lot of experience out there. Developers have tried to do these developments and know all too well the roadblocks. Local authorities know the importance of consultation and the pitfalls that may slow things down. The Government itself has learnt a lot from when it first started thinking about urban development in Glen Innes throughout the successful Hobsonville development. The bill makes a number of policy judgments. I'm looking forward to the submissions on how we can further streamline the process while protecting the importance we have placed on community engagement and partnership. Have we got the process right? What should this agency's priorities be? How can we ensure high-quality design maintains the importance of public housing not just for the next three years but across the generations? There's a wealth of experience we're drawing on in drafting this bill and there is a wealth of experience that will help us refine and improve it. I want to finish by outlining what success will look like once these projects are up and running. Our challenge is to enable quality intensification and to build well-connected communities that make housing more affordable. There is generational reset of the way Government works with the private sector and communities to build our towns and cities. The Government is an enabler working with local councils partnering with the private sector integrating infrastructure development and transport planning with the construction of homes implementing good urban design building community infrastructure putting the aspirations of Māori at the heart of our urban form building and providing affordable housing helping young Kiwi families into homeownership and ensuring every New Zealander has a decent place to call home. This bill is a big part of our plan to achieve those goals. For this reason I commend the bill to the House. SPEAKER: Before I call the Hon Judith Collins and put the question I am going to reissue my reminder. I'm slightly more understanding in this circumstance of a Minister reading a speech because the Minister appeared to be a late fill-in for another Minister but I do want to reiterate that speeches on readings of bills must not be read.