Auckland Council responds to land-bankers' criticism

One of the country's biggest land-bankers, Garry Robertson, says local council compliance hurdles and delays are a major headache for people like him, and developers - and must shoulder some of the blame for the housing crisis. Mr Robertson estimates the land he's purchased and sold to developers has been turned into 15 thousand sections and now house tens of thousands of people. He's been involved with some of Auckland's best known new housing areas including Milldale, Silverdale, Flat Bush, Pokeno and Tuakau. Yesterday, he told told Kathryn it can take up to 15 years from the time a land-aggregator like him buys land, to the time it sells to a developer, and these delays are helping to drive up the cost to homeowners. Auckland Councillor Chris Darby, chair of the Council's Planning Committee, responds to the criticism.