South Auckland

The south is the largest future urban growth area in Auckland. Around 5,000 hectares of land has been identified for urban development.  Auckland Council has started land use planning for some of these future growth areas in the south, for example the Drury-Opaheke the Pukekohe-Paerata Southern Structure Plan areas(external link). Other areas will be progressed over the longer term (e.g. Takānini). In total, it is expected that these growth areas (Drury, Pukekohe/Paerata and Takānini) could provide up to 40,000 new homes as well as new jobs.

Auckland Transport and the NZ Transport Agency have already progressed several priority projects as part of the Supporting Growth Programme. These include:

• SH1 Papakura to Bombay (external link)(capacity improvements)
• Safety improvements on SH22(external link) Drury to Paerata (Safe Roads Alliance)

Related works being delivered outside the Supporting Growth programme include:

• New bus and train station at Pukekohe(external link) 
• Frequent bus and rail services as part of Auckland Transport’s New Network South.(external link)
• Rail electrification from Papakura to Pukekohe; and third line upgrades to Papakura, as part of KiwiRail’s future programme.
• Improved connections to the Waikato.  

Options for new or improved transport connections being investigated by Te Tupu Ngātahi include but are not limited to:

• Additional stations locations on the upgraded rail corridor, e.g. for Drury, Drury West, Paerata and Tironui
• High frequency bus corridor connecting Drury West, Drury, Hingaia, Papakura, Takānini and Manukau, with investigations into the potential for Park and Ride facilities
• Improved connections around Pukekohe
• Mill Road designation and new north-south corridor between Manukau, Drury and Pukekohe
• Improved Takānini East-West routes and remove level crossings
• Walking and cycling network.

A map showing the 2016 preferred network plan for the south is available here,  [PDF, 1.5 MB] and an updated map showing connections being investigated by Te Tupu Ngātahi will be available soon.

At this time, there is no way to tell if a certain property will be affected in the future by one of these transport projects. The lines indicated on the maps generally show options for corridors, within which a future project could have several options for a specific location. Over the next few months, as we carry out the investigative work, we will start assessing potential alignments or routes for projects within these corridors, and engage directly and early with potentially affected property owners to let them know the next steps. For more information this process, see these Route Protection FAQs.

Have your say

Open days were held in September and October 2018 to share more detail on these ideas and options. See the Have Your Say page for more information, a summary of the feedback we received from the community, stakeholders and partners, and next steps.