East Auckland residents say three-storey development shouldn’t be allowed, fear for privacy

Residents of an affluent east Auckland suburb fear their quiet lifestyle could be shattered by a three-storey development in the middle of their neighbourhood.

With dozens of buildings looming high above her garden, Farm Cove resident Anne Moore said there was nowhere to hide.

“My sister’s room is curtains drawn because there are people building on the building site, and there’s no privacy,” she said.

Moore was leading the charge urging council to take action over the partly-completed construction.

With the support of her neighbours, she had sought legal advice, maintaining the development should no longer be allowed under Auckland’s recently changed planning rules.

The hammers and grinders echoing through her home office were hard at work on a pair of three-storey residential units, and they were right next door.

Moore worried the lack of privacy could be permanent once her new neighbours moved in.

“I think the fact that it looks right into our home and right into our property. We’ve got a spa pool, there’s two or three swimming pools in the surrounding area that they now look down on all of us,” she said.

Farm Cove resident Anne Moore says the development should no longer be allowed under Auckland’s recently changed planning rules.
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Another neighbour, Lisa Anne Roy, said the new building towered over her property and blocked the sun.

“The impact’s been absolutely huge,” Roy said.

“We have an immune-compromised child, and taking all the sunlight away from the bedroom side of the house, I mean going up 11 metres, it’s just horrific.”

Roy only heard about the development through word of mouth after construction had already started.

“I have three dogs. To have that third dog on my property, I had to get every single neighbour to sign before council would let me have three dogs on my property,” she recalled.

“They didn’t have to get any signatures to totally change the landscape.”

The development in Farm Cove was allowed by the central government’s Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), introduced in 2022 and permitting three-storey buildings on most city properties.

Contractors at the site on Bramley Drive had just broken ground in October last year when Auckland Council pulled out of those standards, the result of an agreement with the government following the 2023 floods.

That change limited new builds in Farm Cove to two floors, but the development had already been consented for three.

Anne Moore said construction should stop, and was campaigning for the council to step in.

“I keep getting emails saying that, you know, he had a building consent, he got it under the MDRS, and so they’re not going to enforce it because he was given that at the time. Well, that’s all very well, but those rules don’t apply anymore.”

Auckland Council’s head of resource consents, James Hassall, said the development could go ahead despite the recent changes.

“The government is investigating changes to help remedy the situation. This has allowed Auckland Council to issue formal notices to affected consent holders confirming they can rely on their existing consents and continue with their developments while a permanent fix is investigated,” he said in a written statement.

The developers declined RNZ’s interview request, but reiterated that the council had given them permission to continue.

And continue it had. Within a few months, contractors had already erected the frame of the third floor, and the shape of the building was coming into view.

Moore said the noise was driving her crazy, work often dragging into the evenings and weekends.

“They are allowed to work until six in a residential area, but they often keep going and we all have to yell out, hey, time to go, because by then we’ve had enough. So we really want our privacy back for what little time we have it,” she said.

“They’re here Monday to Saturday, and then last Sunday some showed up to work last Sunday, which they’re not allowed to do.”

In an election year, she said National risked losing its previously loyal support in east Auckland.

“I think it’s going to make a difference at the polls this year, to be honest,” she said.

“And this area is a big stronghold for a certain party, and so people are outraged.”

Anne Moore said her community felt burned, and feared others may be put in a similar position.

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