Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
Watching the ladder being pulled up in real time
TL;DR: Shock and outrage is mounting at the rulings of the Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) on a new District Plan for Wellington City, which actually expand character protections on villas on the equivalent of an extra 120 rugby fields in the leafiest inner city suburbs such as Mt Victoria, Thorndon and Kelburn.
The panel’s rulings fly in the face of evidence in Auckland and Christchurch that increasing housing densification and supply reduces rent and house price inflation. Politicians, economists, most urban planners and housing advocates are gobsmacked and are now pleading for Wellington…
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