The District Plan

When the Resource Management Act (RMA) came into effect in 1991 all district councils and city councils were required to develop a District Plan.  A District Plan sets the environmental ground rules for land use. Under the RMA every district must have a District Plan to ensure that the "effects of the use, development or protection of land and associated natural and physical resources" are managed sustainably. The Plan lays down the policies, objectives and methods that the Council will use to ensure sustainable resource management.

It has taken 15 years of research, consultation, drafting, redrafting, public submissions, further submissions, hearings and appeals for the Proposed Selwyn District Plan to finally achieve its current status as the guiding document for land-based development in the district. Even then, it is still a "proposed" plan because some bits of it are still being finalised through appeals and variations.  

The Transitional Plan

For most of the time while the Council was developing the Proposed District Plan, the main planning document was the “Transitional Plan” an amalgam of the three separate town and country planning documents for Ellesmere, Malvern and Paparua Counties that were in effect in the 1980s. Selwyn District was formed from these counties in 1989. 

The Transitional Plan was “activity-based”; it listed which activities could occur as of right in different parts of the District.  All other activities needed permission from the Council. Under the Transitional Plan, landowners wishing to subdivide their property often had to go through a lengthy "plan change" process to get the zoning of their land changed.  

Release of the Proposed District Plan

Selwyn's Proposed District Plan was released for public feedback in 2000 (Township volume) and 2001 (Rural volume). Unlike the Transitional Plan, it is “effects-based” which means that its focus is not on controlling activities themselves, but on controlling the environmental effects of each activity.

It does this by setting environmental standards for each part of the District or “zone”.  Any activity that can meet the standards is permitted by default. An activity that does not meet the standards can only proceed if it has a resource consent from the Council.

Since publication, a number of changes or variations have been made (and are still being made) tot he Proposed District Plan. The public has been invited to make submissions on both the Proposed Plan itself and the variations made after its release.

Decisions on the Proposed District Plan

A large number of submissions were received from the public.  These were analysed, summarised and considered at hearings in which submitters could present their arguments. The District Plan Hearing Panels then made recommendations to the Council.

On 6 November 2004, the Council released its decisions on those submissions and the Plan was amended accordingly.  However, the Council decided not to release decisions on a small number of submissions so that the relevant provisions of the Plan could be reconsidered and possibly amended them by way of variation.  The issues on which Council did not issue decisions were financial contributions; subdivision to 1 ha around townships; and designations.

The Council’s decisions can be viewed at the Leeston Council Office.  The Proposed District Plan as Amended by Decisions can be viewed here.

Appeals

Any submitter who is unhappy with the decision Council made on their submission has the right to appeal the decision. This means the Environment Court will consider the issue and make a decision, unless the issue is first resolved by negotiation.  A number of appeals on the Council’s decisions have been lodged with the Environment Court.  Once all the appeals have been resolved the Selwyn District Plan will be fully operative. Where decisions on submissions have been made and no appeal has been lodged, the provisions of the Proposed District Plan are “effectively operative”.  This means the equivalent rules in the Transitional Plan no longer need to be considered. 

Variations and Plan Changes

Until the Proposed District Plan is fully operative, only the Council can make changes or variations to it. Council has been doing this to address points raised in the submissions process or by appeals. As of June 2006, 25 variations had been made to the Proposed District Plan. These variations were publicly notified and submissions were invited on each of them.

Once the District Plan is fully operative, any changes to it are called “plan changes”.  Plan changes can be proposed by the Council or by private individuals. However, Council is not obliged to consider private plan changes until the Plan has been fully operative for two years. After this time, Council must give full consideration to plan changes put forward by members of the public. Again, all plan changes must be publicly notified.

Designations

Designations ensure that essential community services (for example schools and reserves) and essential infrastructure (for example electrical and telecommunications facilities) can operate without being unduly constrained by planning requirements. 

When land is designated for a particular activity or development, resource consents from the district council are not required for work related to that activity or development on that land. Regional council consents, however, are still required.

All new designations are publicly notified, and anyone interested can make a submission. However, the final decision on the designation rests with the authority which is requiring the designation.

Requiring Authorities

Ministers of the Crown, local authorities, some network utility operators and other entities (e.g. the Central Plains Water Trust) have the legal power to require a council to apply a designation to a particular piece of land.

They do this by submitting a Notice of Requirement which must be publicly notified for the public to make submissions on before being approved or rejected by the council.