Devonport Heritage made a submission on Plan Change 120 in December 2025.

We request that PC 120 and the amendment be approved with the changes we request below.

The Reasons for my views are:

1. The intention of Plan Change 120 amendment is to increase housing in Auckland by 1.4 million.

Yet the changes proposed for the Devonport SCA and in the amendment makes no notable addition to housing in Devonport as it will mainly continue as a Single House Zone. This means the Devonport SCA will be adversely affected for absolutely no reason.

Specific changes to SCAs are not required by the intent of the plan change.

2. We oppose the deletion of 240 properties from the Devonport SCA. Although this number has been reduced since the first plan it will still disrupt the coherence of the area’s heritage.

Deleting parts of streets and small groups of houses is wrong.

3. Under the amended Plan Change 120, we estimate 84 Devonport properties will become Mixed Housing Suburban. We oppose this, as three dwellings per site will disrupt the single house historic settlement pattern of the area.

If this is approved, it makes it even more crucial that these sites retain the SCA as this will at least ensure that new developments are sympathetic to the surround heritage area.

4. The SCA policies have clear statements to ensure new developments maintain and enhance the area through built design, setback and scale.

Without these policies attaching to the MHS sites, significant sections of Devonport SCA will be impacted by unsympathetic new developments which will have no regard for the aesthetics of the area.

5. We continue to oppose the proposed changes to the SCA Business Devonport Town Centre where 39 properties will be deleted from the overlay.

The plan change report includes an analysis of the Devonport Special Character Area Business, that states that this area has the potential to be an Historic Heritage Area.

We support this view and recommend that it be considered for an HHA as part of this plan change.

We would only support the changes to the SCA Business if the area became an Historic Heritage Area.

The town centre is the heart of Devonport, a highly historic local shopping area and a valued tourist attraction. Although many buildings here are not of heritage value they relate to the predominant character buildings in setback, scale and height.

Developers want to maximise the land value by developing the site to its upmost at the expense of the heritage of the area. Without the SCA guidelines there is a danger their replacements will be ultra-modern, statement buildings that will be unsympathetic to the prevailing character of the area.

Victoria Road has 21 Historic Heritage Places and is one of the best-preserved Edwardian and Victorian streets in the country.

6. We oppose the zoning of Adjacent to centre policy 3 (d) for the area around the Devonport town centre which has been enlarged in the amendment.

This arbitrary line around residential areas near the town centre is a hangover from Plan Change 78.

Under the amendment to Plan Change 120 it has been expanded and now takes in a much larger number of properties. This is confusing and unnecessary as it clashes with the underlying zoning and overlays.

Plan Change 120 should be promoting a coherent and consistent set of policies for urban re-development, not contain conflicting policies which would inevitably create a situation of uncertainty and conflict as to the future of high quality SCA Residential overlay around Devonport’s central area.

The enlargement of the area seems deceitful considering most owners within this area would not be aware of this change.