The period for Council input to the District Plan Review has been shortened for stage two, to give the Independent Hearings Panel time to complete its work within the timeline set by the government’s Order in Council.  The Order in Council set an April 2016 deadline for completion of the Christchurch Replacement District Plan.  

Most of the Council’s draft chapters for stage two will go to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and the Minister for the Environment in March for their comments before being publicly notified on 2 May 2015.   Public comment will now feed directly into the submission process for consideration by the Independent Hearings Panel instead of being taken into account for the draft stage two chapters.

Important dates for most of the stage two chapters:

• Notification                                                   2 May 2015
• Submissions open                                      2 May - 15 June 2015
• Submissions published                            29 June 2015
• Further submissions open                      29 June - 13 July 2015
• Further submissions published            27 July 2015

Notification of the Natural and Cultural Heritage, Central City and stage two Natural Hazards Chapters will follow the main stage two notification at a later date, yet to be confirmed.

Also being notified at a later date is content relating to Specific Purpose Zone Flat Land Recovery.  Existing plan changes progressing through the Resource Management Act process, including the Special Purpose Airport Zone plan change and the Ruapuna Plan change, will be dropped into the Replacement District Plan once their RMA processes are complete.

We are also planning to promote public awareness over the next couple of months on some of the key issues that will be covered in the stage two chapters.  We want to get people thinking about some of the issues being reviewed and to encourage them to make a submission.

Notification activities

During the notification period the Council will hold a series of drop-in sessions across the district, as was done for the stage one chapters, where people can come along and learn more about proposals relating to their property or other matters in the stage two chapters.  Planners will also be available to respond to email queries and answer phone queries about the stage two chapters and how they might affect individual properties. 

There will also be a district plan review newsletter delivered to all households and Post Office boxes across the district.  The newsletter will have full details about the process and highlight some of the issues under review.

After submissions close, the process shifts to the Independent Hearings Panel, which hears submissions and makes decisions on the proposals.  Dates for the hearings and panel deliberations are still to be confirmed by the Independent Hearings Panel.  These will be available on the panel’s website www.chchplan.ihp.govt.nz.

 

Other District Plan Review news

• Further submissions on the private plan change request from Memorial Avenue Investments Limited (MAIL) are now open until 2 March 2015.  This relates to a proposed mixed use industrial business park, including industrial, office, retail and hospitality activities.  For more information and to view the submissions go to www.ccc.govt.nz/planchangerequests
• Some late submissions to the stage one chapters are still open for submissions and details of those are available at makeasubmission.ccc.govt.nz.
   
• Three proposals relating to temporary activities were notified on 7 February 2015.  They relate to temporary earthquake recovery activities  for activities displaced by the earthquakes, storage facilities and construction depots in all parts of the district not already covered by the temporary activities proposals in stage one of the district plan review;  the temporary lifting and moving of earthquake damaged buildings (in all parts of the district not already covered by the temporary activities proposals in stage one of the district plan review); and workers temporary accommodation across the whole district.  Details of these proposals are available on our website www.ccc.govt.nz/temporaryactivities.  Submissions on the proposals close on Friday 20 March 2015.

If you have any queries about the District Plan Review, please email us on dpreview@ccc.govt.nz.
 

Brigitte de Ronde

City Planning Unit Manager
Strategy and Planning Group
Christchurch City Council