Plan Change 92

Council decision

On 13 March 2024 Council publicly notified a decision to accept the majority of recommendations made by the Independent Hearing Panel (IHP) on Plan Change 92.

The decision can be viewed here.

Council's decision will allow up to three homes of up to three storeys on a single site in Medium Density Zones in existing residential areas. It also rezones new areas of land for housing. The changes will also allow Council to have better control over the types of homes being built and to ensure a strong connection between private and public spaces. For Ōmokoroa Stage 3, it will also provide further industrial land and a new natural open space zone to support the additional growth.

The recommendations of the IHP rejected by the Council are the following:

• New vibration rules in Medium Density Residential Zones which would require buildings (containing sensitive activities) within 60m of railway corridors to be designed and constructed to protect against vibration effects. Council's alternative recommendation is for these rules to be deleted.
• New noise rules in Medium Density Residential Zones which would require buildings (containing sensitive activities) within 100m of railway corridors to be designed and constructed to protect against noise effects. Council's alternative recommendation is for the 100m area to be reduced to 50m.
• The proposed Industrial Zone to the west of the existing Francis Road intersection with State Highway 2 being retained as Future Urban Zone. Council's alternative recommendation is to rezone the land to Industrial but make subject to existing light industrial rules.
• The proposed Natural Open Space Zone on the land (Lot 3 DPS 28670) to the east of Ōmokoroa Road and adjoining State Highway 2 being retained as Future Urban Zone. Council's alternative recommendation is to rezone the land to Natural Open Space.

Note: In accordance with delegated authority given to Council staff, the District Plan Committee Chairperson has approved a minor editorial change to the Council decision relating to the Natural Open Space Zone at 467E Ōmokoroa Road. The zone boundary had been aligned with the significant ecological feature boundary in error and is corrected to revert to the boundary at time of Plan Change 92 notification.

The topics, maps and provisions related to the IHP recommendations rejected by Council, and the minor editorial change above, are identified in the following documents of the IHP recommendation:

• Attachment A - Summary of Recommendations on All Topics and Submission Points
• Attachment B - Recommended Changes to the District Plan Maps
• Attachment C - Recommended Changes to the District Plan Provisions

All of the recommendations of the IHP accepted by Council were incorporated into the District Plan on 13 March 2024 and became operative on 21 March 2024.

The other recommendations of the IHP rejected by Council were sent to the Minister for the Environment to make decisions on. Those decisions can be viewed above.

Panel recommendations

On 25 January 2024 the Independent Hearing Panel (IHP) provided its report that sets out their recommendations to Council on Plan Change 92. Council will consider and make decisions on these recommendations in the next Council meeting on 22 February 2024.
The Panel’s report and attached documents can be found here:
IHP Recommendation Report (PDF, 1862KB)
Attachment A - Summary of Recommendations on All Topics and Submission Points (PDF, 1115KB)
Attachment B - Recommended Changes to the District Plan Maps (PDF, 18237KB)
Attachment C - Recommended Changes to the District Plan Provisions (PDF, 10114KB)