In this section

Operative as of 25 July 2012

Operative as of 25 July 2012

Ashburton-cornerMWH-BuildingDowntownBusiness-District-in-Lincoln-Feb2011-007

All appeals have now been resolved..

Documents of Interest

Plan Change 29

Plan Change 29 is designed to improve the standard of development in commercial areas by ensuring that buildings are built in a way that is attractive to people. It concerns itself with the interface between buildings and public space and with the layout of buildings on larger sites.

It draws a distinction between smaller and larger developments. The former have a reduced scale of effects and can be managed with a simple rules based framework, as at present. Some new rules are proposed in PC29, including:

  • Restrictions on parking in front of premises and requirements for active frontage (doors and windows facing the street) (Rule 16.9)
  • Restrictions on colour and signage (Rule 16.12)
  • Landscaping of Car Parking (Rule 17.7)

Larger developments can have greater scale of effects on neighbours and public space, and they also create de-facto public space on site. Since these areas are where residents will experience the public life of a town, it is important that they are of a high quality.

These developments will have restricted discretionary status in the plan, meaning that Council will be able to examine proposals based on a series of assessment matters. These are listed in rule 16.10.

The commercial Design Guide complements the plan change. Section 4 (Design Principles) elaborates on the assessment matters in rule 16.10 of the Plan Change (the matters are listed in the same order). Section 5 (Development Types) illustrates possible layouts for different types of development which will comply with the Policies. The role of the guide is to explain the assessment matters and demonstrate how they can be implemented.

If you have any questions regarding this Plan Change please contact the Duty Planner on 03 347-2868 or email planninginfo@selwyn.govt.nz