Upper Hutt City Council Chief Executive, Geoff Swainson, wrote to the government recently asking it to give fast-track approval to build up to 2040 houses on Silverstream Spur. The decision to ask for the fast-track was attended by mayor Wayne Guppy, Swainson, and a senior council officer.

On Tuesday, councilor Emma Holderness said that she, Dylan Bentley, Matt Carey, Tracey Ultra, and Chris Carson weren’t aware that this application had been sent until it had been brought to their attention by a member of the public. They say that the chief executive’s letter did not accurately reflect the council’s position and they want it corrected.

Jason Dury of the Silverstream Railway says this:

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The club has battled the council for nearly two decades, arguing the road it wants to build would destroy an area of significant flora and fauna, as well as increasing the risk of flooding.

A lot of work had gone into making a submission to a recent plan change, which he said now felt like a waste of time.

“There is a process going on and this just short-circuits it … it is undemocratic.”

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Professor Dean Knight, a law academic at Victoria University has described this request as a “schemozzle” that should serve as warning of a danged posed by the new government policy. He says

“This schemozzle gives us some insight in to the brave new world of fast-track approvals on steroids. Developers, and it seems local authorities too, will be attracted to expedited ministerial approval processes, where they can cut themselves adrift from the processes of local democracy and the associated demands of environmental protection.”

Source: The Post

23/05/24