Selwyn District Council is developing a variation to the Proposed Selwyn District Plan, with public consultation on it expected in August this year.

They must make changes to the Proposed District Plan, also called a ‘variation’, due to the Government’s new building intensification rules, i.e. the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021.

Over the coming months the Council will consider what exact changes are needed. But the scope of the variation covers:

• The introduction of a new Medium Density Residential Zone that will be applied to relevant residential zones in Rolleston, Lincoln and Prebbleton;
• Additional land for residential development in Rolleston that is beyond the existing residential zoning;
• Including in the variation certain private plan change requests which the Council is currently processing.

About the new building intensification rules

On 20 December 2021 the Government passed new legislation, the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Act. With this new Act the Government is aiming to increase housing supply in New Zealand’s five largest urban areas in New Zealand, also called ‘Tier 1 councils’: Auckland, and Greater Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch. Selwyn district is part of Greater Christchurch which means our district is also subject to the new legislative requirements.

Key changes introduced through the new building intensification rules include:

• Mandatory medium density residential standards for relevant residential zones. These new standards allow people to develop up to three homes of up to three storeys on most sites without the need for a resource consent. Exemptions will apply based on qualifying matters set out in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), such as heritage areas and natural hazards.
• A new planning process which Tier 1 councils must use to implement intensification policies quicker. This process is called the Intensification Streamlined Planning Process (ISPP). The public will have an opportunity to make a submission on the proposed intensification rules during this process, but there will be no appeal process.

Tier 1 councils must publicly notify the new rules and policies enabling medium density and intensification in their district plans by 20 August 2022.

For more information on the new Act check the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development website at www.hud.govt.nz/about-us/news/update-enabling-housing-supply-legislation-passes-to-help-grow-our-cities/.

Hearings of submissions on Proposed District Plan

The requirement to prepare a variation to the Proposed Plan means some hearings of submissions on the notified Proposed Plan have been postponed.

Hearings of submissions on the Residential and Subdivision Chapters of the Proposed Plan will now need to be considered alongside submissions on the variation. These hearings are expected to take place in early-to-mid-2023.

Hearings of submissions seeking to rezone land through the Proposed Plan will occur after the hearings of submission received on the variation.

When can you have your say?

Once a draft of the variation is developed and approved by the Council, the changes to the Proposed District Plan will be notified for public consultation. This is expected to happen in August (no later than 20 August which is the deadline set by the Government).

Following the public consultation, the Council will hold hearings of the submissions, which are expected to take place in early-to-mid-2023. Hearings of submissions seeking to rezone land through the Proposed Plan will occur after the hearings of submission received on the variation.

No appeals will be possible on the decisions in relation to matters covered by the variation. This follows the new legislation that introduces a new planning process which Tier 1 councils, such as Selwyn, must use to implement intensification policies quicker.

For more information on the variation process visit Council website at www.selwyn.govt.nz/dprvariation. There you can find answers to most common questions and Council report Proposed Selwyn District Plan Variation in response to the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply And Other Matters) Amendment Act.