On 20 August 2022, Selwyn District Council has notified for public consultation mandatory variations to the Proposed Selwyn District Plan.  Selwyn District Council has prepared an Intensification Planning Instrument (IPI), being Variation 1 to the Proposed Selwyn District Plan (Part A) (PDP).

Why a variation is required?

A variation to the PDP is required in response to the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (Amendment Act) which came into effect on 20 December 2021.

Increasing urban density is crucial to address the housing scarcity in New Zealand. A key issue of this scarcity is controlling planning regulations which limit the heights and density of housing in residential areas.  To deal with the housing shortage the Government has reset the rules for how residential areas can grow, and has introduced two pieces of legislation that directs councils what they must do to make it happen – the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) and the Amendment Act.

The changes introduced by the Government are mandatory. Selwyn District Council is, therefore, required to make changes to the district plan to allow for more housing in relevant residential areas and at greater heights.

The Amendment Act

The Amendment Act seeks to accelerate the housing supply in the greater urban areas of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, and Christchurch (also called Tier 1 councils) where the demand for housing is high. The Amendment Act achieves this by overruling council’s plans and requires them to adopt Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) in relevant residential areas. 

Medium density residential standards (Density standards)

The Density standards require high-growth councils across the country to allow the development of up to three residential units up to three storeys high (11m) per site in the identified areas without the need for a resource consent provided all other rules and standards have been complied with.

District plans must include the density standards shown in the table below (or standards that enable greater development) from August 2023. 

The Density standards will apply in every relevant residential zone which largely includes all residential zones except:1

  • Large lot residential zones2 or an equivalent zone
  • Settlement zones3
  • a mainly urban area that the 2018 census recorded as having a resident population of less than 5,000 (unless a local authority intends it to become part of an urban environment)

The Density standards will have immediate legal effect from the date of notification.

Rules

  1. The construction and use of a building, if it complies with the density standards, is a permitted activity. This includes three residential units up to three storeys, and any other building on the site.
  2. Subdivision requires consent as a controlled activity for the purposes of the construction and use of residential units in accordance with the land use rules. A controlled activity application must be granted by Council, however the Council has discretion to impose conditions. All subdivision remains subject to s 106 of the Resource Management Act which sets out that consent authority may refuse to grant a consent, or may grant a subdivision subject to conditions, if it considers that there is a significant risk from natural hazards or sufficient provision has not been made for legal and physical access to each allotment to be created by the subdivision.
  3. The construction and use of four or more residential units, or residential units that do not comply with the density standards, require consent as a restricted discretionary activity. This means that Council has discretion to decline consent application and/or may impose conditions. The Amendment Act does not prescribe the matters of discretion but Councils would probably outline them in a way so they have maximum discretion to impose conditions on such activity.
  4. Public and limited notification is precluded for resource consent applications looking to authorise land use activities and subdivision activities referred above. Therefore, any potentially affected person(s) would have no opportunity to take part in the consenting process.

Next steps

Council(s) are directed to establish an Independent Hearing Panel to hear and make decisions on the IPI and related Variations. There are no rights of appeal to the Environment Court. This is to ensure that the IPIs are operative by mid-2023.

Although, the Density standards are set out within the Amendment Act there are various matters that require consideration such as:

  • Who is responsible for the infrastructure required to support the accelerated supply of housing in urban areas?
  • What measures are being put in place to develop the existing infrastructure to deal with increased development?
  • The matters of discretion under the controlled and restricted discretion activities as the Amendment does not prescribe any limits.
  • What financial contributions methods will Council adopt to steer development to relevant residential areas?

Any person may make a submission on the changes proposed. The public consultation period on Variation 1 closes at 5pm on Friday 16 September 2022.

 

1 Medium density residential standards: A guide for territorial authorities at p.2

2 Areas used predominantly for residential activities and buildings, such as detached houses, on lots larger than those of the low density residential and general residential zones, and where there are particular landscape characteristics, physical limitations or other constraints on more intensive development.

3 Areas used predominantly for a cluster of residential, commercial, light industrial and/or community activities that are located in rural areas or coastal environments.