No, it doesn’t mean zero cars but it means 90% less cars than usual. Sunfield is designed around people, not cars. In place of roads and driveways, there are walkways, cycleways, waterways, and shared spaces.
The 15-minute neighbourhood urban design concept is the foundation for Sunfield, meaning everything you need day-to-day is within a 15 minute walk from home, including schooling, healthcare, supermarket, shops, and work.
No, not at all. While many people will choose to move around Sunfield using the abundance of walkways and cycleways, the Sunbus will consistently move around the central access way known as the Sunfield Loop and connect with the Papakura Train Station, which is only 2km away.
The Sunbus means a journey to and from Sunfield is seamless and efficient. Residents will be able to jump on the Sunbus to get to wherever they need to within Sunfield and connect with the Auckland Public Transport system via Papakura Train Station.
The Sunbus is an autonomous electric shuttle that makes the first and last mile of a residents journey in and out of Sunfield, simple and efficient. There will be a fleet of shuttles at Sunfield, continuously moving around the Sunfield Loop and connecting with the Papakura Train Station. While there will be scheduled stops, residents are able to request the Sunbus to stop on demand via an app to get as close to home as possible.
An autonomous bus is just a fancy way of saying a bus with no driver that can drive itself. It’s got enough space for about 13-15 people, and it doesn’t have a steering wheel.
Yes, it is very safe! An autonomous shuttle has lots of sensors all around the exterior to see everything around it and know where it is. It works like a tram or a train, but it runs on virtual tracks that are invisible. If something gets in the way, it will stop automatically and wait.
Integrating how residents will move around was critical in the design of Sunfield, including those that need to travel to other parts of Auckland. Public transport links are accessible via the Sunbus and main routes are easily accessible from Sunfield.
There will be two schools within Sunfield. To get to school, students can use the abundance of walkways and cycleways, catch the Sunbus or take the Sunbus to the train station if they need to go further.
There are four mobility hubs throughout Sunfield and located close to Sunfield homes. At each community hub there will be carshare facilities so you can jump in a car and head off to weekend sports outside of Sunfield.
There will also be visitor parking at the mobility hubs for when friends and family want to visit, or they might want to get the train and the Sunbus so they don’t have to worry about driving and parking.
Yes, at each neighbourhood mobility hub there is parking for:
- 1 carpark per 10 houses for residents
- 1 carpark per 10 houses for visitors
- Shared electric vehicles
Because it’s 100% renewable, and that’s important – by using solar at Sunfield, we avoid at least 3,000 tonnes of GHG emissions every year, and that isn’t including generation from commercial areas. It also means cheaper power for residents and we take the pressure off the already struggling national grid!
Well, that’s easy - we put solar panels on every roof, connected to batteries, to provide power to the community! By storing the power onsite, we can move it around the community wherever the demand is. And when Sunfield generates more power than it needs, we feed it into the national grid.
Don’t worry, we have that sorted. Sunfield will connect to the national grid for those times - we can charge the batteries during the night when it’s cheaper for residents to use during the day.
Not a chance. With innovative technology and a linked grid within Sunfield, we can move the power around to where it is needed. A family of 5 will likely need more power than a family of 3 so we can fulfil demand as needed.
In addition, the high-quality homes at Sunfield will be more energy efficient with insulation and double glazing, which naturally reduces electricity usage.
And, of course, if needed, we can draw from the national grid as backup.
With community batteries onsite, Sunfield is self-sufficient and enables residents to continue as normal until the batteries are drained, and there is no sun to recharge them.
Yes, absolutely! And solar and battery technology is evolving quickly, meaning it will only get better and better.
There will be about 11,000 job opportunities across 250,000 sqm of employment area for commercial, retail, healthcare, aged cared, convenience, education and industrial businesses. People might work at the co-working space or work from home. So for anyone who wants to work near where they live, it’ll be fantastic.
With at least 11,000 job opportunities within Sunfield, there will be a wide range of opportunities across commercial, industrial, medical, aged care, retail and education.
The construction phase of Sunfield will also create many jobs for the building industry.
Generally, people want to live more sustainably, but that can be hard in a city. Sunfield does the heavy lifting to not only make it possible but make it easier and more affordable.
Auckland desperately needs more housing and a community with 11,000 job opportunities is even better. People will be able to work close to home to enjoy living local instead of on motorways.
We think it will be appeal to a wide range of people from the younger to the older, and all ages in between.
Not at all, Sunfield is a whole community. Sunfield is thoughtfully designed, so everything residents may need day-to-day is close by. So there is so much more than 5,000 homes – there are shops, medical centres, playgrounds, sports fields, aquatic centre, co-working spaces, retirement villages, schools, supermarkets, the list goes on!
There won’t be many two-lane roads like we’re used to having – but there will be some smaller single lane access roads for emergencies and delivery vehicles that’ll get pretty close to where they need to go.
There are utility hubs at the end of most lanes for rubbish, so take your rubbish there and the truck comes and picks it up. This is a bit like apartment living, where you need to take your rubbish or collect your mail on the ground floor.
Mail will be delivered to the utility hubs at the end of most lanes making it super easy for residents to check on their way home.
Houses will be warm and dry and overlook pedestrian-only laneways with trees, planting, lighting, and seating out front. And they’ll all have solar panels on the roof and covered space to leave bikes and scooters.
While they won’t have garages, there will be storage options at the mobility hubs dotted around the community.
Yes, we expect them to be about 20% cheaper than the average Auckland house price.
With radically less roading infrastructure and no need for driveways or garages, the space can be used for more housing and shared areas.
Lower house prices, no need for personal car ownership, reduced ongoing costs from not having a car, and cheaper power from the solar network.
Fundamentally Sunfield will be inclusive for those with disabilities as everything is close to home. In addition, there will be specific house types that will be wheel-chair friendly, including features such as smooth entry doorways and accessible kitchens and bathrooms, to name a few.
It’s a concept that serves as an organising principle for urban development and urban life. The neighbourhood is designed to provide residents access to most, if not all, resident needs within a short walk or bike ride from their home, including schooling, employment, medical services, restaurants and bars, recreational spaces, retail, and food supplies.
Winton is seeking development consent through the Urban Development Act, the fast-track central government legislation designed to speed up major housing developments. With the shortage of homes in Auckland and New Zealand’s ambitions to remove emissions from the way we live, we want to get on and make this happen asap and the Urban Development Act is the fastest way to do that.
Winton lodged the application on Tuesday 5th October. There is similar legislation in Australia and it would take around three months to process an application like this, Winton is hoping for the same here so we can get on with it and make it happen.
This will be an absolute first for New Zealand and Australia. There are a few similar projects scattered around the world – in Germany, Holland and Abu Dhabi.
Sunfield is a radically new concept, integrating transport with urban design to achieve a community with 90% fewer cars. It is exactly the type of special development that New Zealand needs to reduce emissions and Kiwi’s reliance on personal cars. But it needs support from the Government in the way of consent for it to proceed.
It takes a lot of time and effort to build a whole suburb. So we wanted to think really hard about how things are changing, what people need and build a neighbourhood that suits how people will live in 10-20 years' time – not how we’ve lived in the past.
Fundamentally Sunfield will be inclusive for those with disabilities as everything is close to home. For those with mobility scooters, there will be space to park them undercover at home. For those that need a specialised vehicle, there will be special access apartments near each mobility hub.
Ardmore Airport is located on the eastern boundary of the Sunfield development. Three noise contours overlay the Property, they are the High Aircraft Noise Area (HANA), the Moderate Aircraft Noise Area (MANA) and the Aircraft Noise Notification Area (ANNA). The noise contours are as stipulated by Auckland Council.
A key requirement when developing the Sunfield concept masterplan was to ensure that only appropriate activities are undertaken within these noise contours. As an example, no residential housing, retirement villages or schools are proposed to be developed within the HAHA noise contour. Only a small portion of residential housing is proposed to be developed on the outer edge of the MANA noise contour.
Homes within Sunfield will be constructed to ensure the attenuation of any aircraft noise arising in connection with Ardmore Airport as is stipulated by Auckland Council.
It should be noted that the Sunfield concept masterplan works within the existing constraints associated with the Ardmore Airport noise contours and that Winton is not proposing any changes to these noise overlays.
A comprehensive solution has been developed to manage stormwater that affects Sunfield. The Sunfield stormwater solution is an extension of the Takanini Stormwater Conveyance Channel, of which Stage 1 has already been designed, consented and constructed by Auckland Council and is operational. Stage 2 and 3 of the Takanini Stormwater Conveyance Channel was to be constructed by Auckland Council, but now Winton is going to undertake this work. Stage 4 is an extension of the channel.
Extensive native planting will occur along the length of the channel, this along with dedicated walk and cycle ways will ensure that the quality public asset is created along the waters edge.
In New Zealand, one of the biggest physical risks of climate change is the increase in frequency of extreme weather related events. The engineering and infrastructure solution for Sunfield has been designed to accommodate the impact of future climate change as specified in the current Code of Practice.
The Climate Change Commission’s final advice to the Government recommended that no new gas connections occur after 2025.
Excluding gas connections within Sunfield for heating and cooking avoids further emissions and eliminates air pollution within homes and commercial sites from gas. It’s good for the planet and the health and wellbeing of residents!
When 70% of New Zealand’s transport emissions are from light vehicles like personal cars, a community with 90% less cars avoids a considerable number of emissions. In fact, an existing community the same size as Sunfield would emit up to three times as much as Sunfield just from car use.
High-quality, healthy homes will be more energy-efficient, reducing energy consumption. The majority of the remaining electricity needs will be filled with renewable energy generated onsite from solar, avoiding at least 3,000 tonnes of emissions from carbon dioxide each year, equivalent to planting 140,000 trees.
Water will be collected from village and hub rooftops to use in shared spaces throughout Sunfield.
Excluding gas connections at Sunfield avoids further emissions and improves resident health and wellbeing by eliminating the air pollution that comes with gas use.
With more green areas, Sunfield residents will also have access to community gardens, supporting self-sufficiency and community interaction.
Sunfield enables a more sustainable lifestyle for residents, reducing time on motorways and increasing time available to spend with friends and family or doing the things they love.