Ngā Hoahoa Paewhiri  Auckland Urban Design Panel

The Auckland Urban Design Panel (AUDP) provides you with independent, best-practice advice so that your significant project contributes to better outcomes for Auckland. This section guides you through the AUDP process as well as providing you with information on who the current panel members are.

Auckland Urban Design Panel photo with people in an office environment discussing housing models

Triggers for a review by the Auckland Urban Design Panel

  • Any project deemed “transformational” by urban design or planning officers, or listed within the top priority centres within the Auckland Plan;

  • Any large development within or near a centre;

  • Any development within the City Centre;

  • High rise apartment buildings, office buildings or large mixed use developments;

  • Large scale residential developments over 20 units;

  • Major infrastructure projects such as motorways or schools;

  • Masterplans for any new greenfield or brownfield development;

  • Any locally significant development that council officers believe would benefit from a Panel review;

  • Developments that infringe the standards in the Unitary Plan;

  • Major scale Council and CCO projects including streetscape upgrades and community facilities.

How it works

There are four phases to the AUDP process. Here’s how it works. 

 

Book a meeting
Our planning team will contact you to set up a pre-application meeting.
Our planner will invite any relevant council specialists to the meeting.

Attend meeting
At the pre-application meeting a Council Urban Designer will check the proposal against the triggers to see if an AUDP review is required.

Confirmation
Shortly after the meeting, we will email you to let you know whether your proposal will go to the AUDP.

Date and Panel members

The Council urban designer will check with the Panel Assistant to select possible dates for the Panel session. The Panel date will be confirmed with the applicant. Panel sessions are held weekly, usually on Thursday.

The Design Review Panels Lead will work with the Council urban designer to identify the appropriate mix of Panel Members, including whether a Ngā Aho representative or Heritage Architect is required.

They will also determine whether additional experts or Council officers are required to advise the Panel.

The Panel Assistant will send an invitation to the selected Panel members, the applicant, the Council urban designer and planner, and any additional experts or Council officers.

Milestones for information requirements
You’ll get a follow-up email and calendar invitation with dates, timeframes and requirements for submitting the Panel Information Requirements.

Two weeks prior: draft information requirements
Submit your draft information requirements pack to your Council Urban Designer via email. They’ll tell you if there’s any additional information required for the final Information Requirements pack.

One week prior: final information requirements 
Send your final information requirements pack in hard copy by Thursday at midday, a week prior to the AUDP meeting.

Send the pack to:
Tāmaki Makaurau Design Ope
Auckland Council
Level 16
135 Albert St
Auckland Central 1010
Attn: Auckland Urban Design Panel Assistant

Note: The panel meeting will be postponed if the above criteria are not met.

Coversheet

Once the final Information Requirements have been received, the Council planner and urban designer will jointly prepare a coversheet and any relevant supporting material to highlight the key urban design issues that they are seeking advice from the Panel on.

The Information Requirements, Coversheet and supporting material is collated and sent out by the Panel Assistant to Panel members.

 

You will meet with your Council Planner, Urban Designer and Panel Assistant, panel members and any additional experts or Council officers. Meetings are held in Auckland Council offices in the city centre. Panel sessions run on a tight schedule:

  • Welcome. The Chair welcomes you to the room and introduces everyone.
  • Presentation. You/your team present the proposal.
  • Questions. Panel Members ask questions.
  • Discussion. The Panel discusses any issues and opportunities.
  • Close. The meeting is brought to a close and we continue to work on a list of recommendations for your proposal. 

Recommendations

The Panel Assistant is responsible for circulating the recommendations to Council staff and the applicant within 24 hours of the close of the meeting.

In instances where the Panel is unable to complete the recommendations within the scheduled meeting time, draft recommendations will be emailed to all Panel members. Any suggested changes will be sent in a ‘reply to all Panel Members’ email, with the Chair responsible for providing the final recommendations to the Panel Assistant within 3 days.

Our team will contact you to discuss the panel's list of recommendations or ask for clarification on points raised during the meeting. Depending on which stage of the design process you are at and the recommendations themselves, the panel may ask to review the proposal again. We encourage you to meet with us once again after applying the recommendations and before lodging your application for resource consent.

Information you need to provide for an AUDP review

Panel Info requirements

Going through the panel process requires a fair amount of preparation and documentation about your site, its context, contraints and opportunities. Here's a checklist of everything you'll need to be ready to present to the panel.

AUDP Panel Members

Auckland Urban Design Panel; Appendix B Panellists 2024-2026 cover page image

Our diverse urban design panel members each have extensive experience in their respective fields. FInd out more about them in this list of panel member bios.