Current Operative District Plan
Background
The Operative District Plan 2012 is the culmination of the District Plan First Review (a review of the previous Operative District Plan 2002).
It became operative on 16 June 2012 except for specific provisions relating to Matakana Island which became operative on 19 December 2015 following the resolution of appeals against the District Plan First Review and Plan Change 46/Variation 2 - Matakana Island.
Eplan
The District Plan is now available in an ePlan format with interactive mapping. Please select here for a guide on how to use the new ePlan format.
Plan Changes
The following are proposed Plan Changes:
- Private Plan Change 95 - Pencarrow Estate, Pongakawa
The following Plan Changes are operative and have been incorporated into the Operative District Plan 2012:
- Plan Changes 1-9, 11-53, 56-94.
The following Plan Changes have been withdrawn:
- Plan Changes 10, 54 and 55
- Plan Change 76 (part of)
Legal Status of Plan Changes
The proposed provisions of a Plan Change take legal effect once decisions are released, however, any proposed provision must be treated as operative (before or after decisions) if it is beyond challenge e.g. if the time for making submissions or appeals has closed and there are no submissions in opposition to it or appeals lodged against it, or if any appeals lodged against it have been resolved.
- Legal effect means any proposed provision must be considered, and if any proposed provision requires resource consent, this consent must be sought.
- Treated as operative means the provision is in full effect but is yet to be made formally operative (this requires public notification).
Removal of Minimum Car Parking Numbers
The National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) requires councils to plan for growth and ensure a well-functioning urban environment for all people, communities, and future generations. The NPS-UD directs councils to not set minimum car parking numbers and to remove any provisions which do have the effect of requiring a minimum number of car parks (except in relation to accessible car parking). It also requires councils to make these changes without using a process in Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991, meaning that the changes become operative immediately and there is no opportunity to make submissions. The Western Bay of Plenty District Plan was changed to give effect to this direction on 18 February 2022.
The changes can be viewed here.
The public notice (printed in the Bay of Plenty Times on 19 February and in the Weekend Sun on 25 February) can be viewed here.
Update to Housing Bottom Line
The National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) requires councils to set housing bottom lines for the short-medium term and the long term in their district plans (Policy 7) and update accordingly. It also requires councils to make this update without using a process in Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991, meaning that the changes become operative immediately and there is no opportunity to make submissions. The Western Bay of Plenty District Plan was changed to give effect to this direction on 18 June 2024.
The update can be viewed in Section 2 (Issues Overview) of the Eplan here.
The public notice (to appear in the Weekend Sun on 21 June 2024 and in the Bay of Plenty Times on 22 June 2024) can be viewed here.
