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Last modified: 04 Mar 2022 12:58pm

The Council is preparing changes to the Proposed Selwyn District Plan, with public consultation on it expected in August this year.

New building intensification rules recently introduced by Government require all Tier 1 Councils - including Selwyn - to prepare and notify a variation to their district plans by 20 August 2022. The variation must include new rules and policies that enable medium density and intensification in relevant residential zones.

“Over the coming months the Council will consider what exact changes are needed”, says Council’s Planning Manager Ben Rhodes. The variation will cover:

  • 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, including certain private plan change requests that are currently being processed by the Council.

The new building intensification rules also requires councils to vary private plan changes that were notified prior to the new legislation coming into effect (20 December 2021).

“This means we must notify the variations to relevant private plan changes at the same time we notify our own variation to the Proposed District Plan”, says Mr Rhodes.

“Given the current situation our Council finds itself in, with a number of private plan changes at different stages of the process, this creates logistical and procedural issues that the new legislation itself is not clear on addressing”.

Based on legal advice and information available to date, each private plan change request will be affected differently depending on what stage in the process they are, where they are located, and what they are seeking.

Once a draft of the variation is developed, it will go to the Council for approval and then be notified for public consultation. Public consultation will begin by 20 August 2022 at the latest.

“To enable the variation process to be completed, including the new hearings, there will be a delay on when the Proposed Plan becomes operative, as well as the affected private plan changes”, says Mr Rhodes.

The Proposed District Plan was notified at the end of 2020 and was expected to become operative at the end of 2022. With the variation it is now expected that the Proposed District Plan will become operative in early 2024.

It’s important to note that no appeals will be possible on 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 more quickly.

For more information visit our district plan variation page