APRIL
PAENGA-WHAWHA 2025
Submission date extended on controversial District Plan by Louise Parry Inconsistencies in the draft District Plan and a lack of communication from Hutt City Council about the implications of the proposals for property owners have banded local residents together to fight what they see as unnecessary and arbitrary changes to property use rules. The council extended the deadline for submissions on the plan. Cut off is now 5pm on 2 May 2025. The extension comes as residents grapple with understanding the implications of the draft District Plan, which now includes new residential zones and increased rules around slope hazards, natural hazards, the coastal environment, and sites and areas of significance to Māori (SASMs). Muritai resident Andrew Robinson, who is involved in the property and development sectors, has been actively assisting locals in deciphering the draft plan. A key concern regards the lack of clear communication surrounding the proposed rules. "We've got a pretty resounding response from people saying, mate, we don't know anything about this. We're concerned." While the council’s website has functionality for address searches showing overlays of the various maps influencing land use, Mr Robinson says working out what that means for individual homeowners is complicated. "How do we find out what's the lay of the land? What does this all mean to us, in terms of the now, but also the future?" Under the planned changes, subdivision rules are governed by the specifics of their site as pertaining to risks identified from its gradient, position in the coastal environment, risks of tsunami and other natural hazards, along with
Portable Heating Range Instore Now
any significance of the site to Māori. SASMs can include sacred sites and areas, such as burial sites, urupā/cemeteries, battle sites, former kāinga/villages and pā sites, Māori reserves, significant maunga/mountains, nohoanga/ campsites and important mahinga kai/food gathering areas, including waterways. While this change has been flagged for some time, (see The Eastbourne Herald’s July 2024 explainer at www.eastbourneherald.co.nz), some developers are questioning why the provisions only apply to buildings that are larger than 200m2. Legal advice has suggested the draft changes are a “bit of a trial, bit of an overreach, a bit of a radical kind of concept for a lot of these things, which are slightly untested,” Mr Robinson says. He says the four areas of greatest concern to him include the Large Lot Residential Zone, which limits subdivision on large sites that include hills. Under the plan,“Medium to high density housing types, such as terrace housing and low-rise apartments, are only enabled where it can be demonstrated that the location is appropriate for more intensive development, including that the development can appropriately respond to existing constraints.” Pl a c i ng a l l prop e r t i e s i n d e f i ne d
geographical areas which are particular zones, regardless of the slope, is a huge inconsistency, he says. “They're all kind of new rules which don't apply to the balance of Eastbourne from a starting point. Why is this kind of radical idea being applied to a few of the properties when the underlying zoning really should probably apply to the whole of the area. What's the difference?” Mr Robinson says the concerns of the council are mitigated by sound engineering laws and standards, which ensure high-quality building takes place. In 2023, in response to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development and an amendment two years earlier to the Housing Supply section of the Resource Management Act, HCC enacted Plan Change 56 to improve housing supply and affordability, resulting in fewer restrictions on development. Mr Robinson is asking why the rules around housing intensity have now changed in certain areas but not others. Mr Robinson is one of those questioning “why they suddenly added this new zone to Eastbourne when, under their plan change 56 which got approved back Continues on Page 2
PETONE 25 Bouverie Street Phone: 569 8311
UPPER HUTT 9 Park Street Phone: 527 2227
PORIRUA 3 Semple Street Phone: 233 8009