Quick Recap
The government introduced the Medium Density Residential Standards (“MDRS”) requiring councils to change their district and regional plans to enable housing intensification in major urban areas, through the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021. This required, among other things, Tier 1 territorial authorities in greater Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, and now, Rotorua, to notify their plan changes through an intensification planning instrument (“IPI”) and the intensification streamlined planning process (“ISPP”) by August 2022.
Plan Changes have been notified – Plan changes of particular interest are…
Auckland – Plan Change 78 “Intensification”:
Auckland’s Plan Change 78 was notified on 18 August 2022. Submissions to Plan Change 78 in the Auckland Unitary Plan were open from 18 August 2022 until 29 September 2022, with further submissions closing 20 January 2023. There are concerns around intensification from some experts surrounding Auckland’s most recent deluge, however some hope that well-planned intensification will stop ‘the urban sprawl into those natural areas and our agricultural areas.’
Waikato
Hamilton City Council – Plan Change 12 – Enabling Housing Supply under the Resource Management Act:
Submissions and further submissions to Plan Change 12 were available until 12 December 2022. Next a joint opening hearing will commence on 14 February 2023 (including Plan Change 12 for Hamilton City Council, Variation 3 for Waikato District Council, and Plan Change 26 for Waipā District Council). Substantive hearings on Plan Change 12 will be held May/June 2023.
Waipā District Council – Proposed Plan Change 26 – Residential Zone Intensification
Here there will be an increase housing density in the residentially zoned areas of Cambridge, Kihikihi and Te Awamutu. Waipā District Council were upset with the lack of consultation with local government in drafting the Bill, and made their displeasure known. Their website reads:
“All councillors were united in their fight against ‘uncontrolled urban intensification’ and voted for option three at a council meeting on 5 April 2022. Option three provided the potential for the Council to maintain some control over where mandatory intensification occurs within residential zones.”
In saying this, their Plan Change 26 was notified on 19 August.
Bay of Plenty
Tauranga – Plan Change 33 – Enabling housing supply:
Plan change 33 was notified on 20 August 2022. The further submission period closed on Friday 9 December 2022. On 12 December 202, the Tauranga City Council withdrew points 314.14 and 314.15 from its own submissions. These related to the extent of the High Density Residential Zone in the Mount Maunganui north area to give effect to the Spatial Extent of the NPS-UD Policy 3(c) and (d), particularly the outcomes of any relevant Spatial Plan, as well as Building Heights in the High Density Residential Zone and Identified Commercial Zones to enable greater height and density where appropriate.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council – Plan Change 92 Ōmokoroa and Te Puke Enabling Housing Supply and other Supporting Matters
WBOPDC notified plan changes for Te Puke and Ōmokoroa. The standards are only being applied to these two areas, because they are the only towns that fit the brief for central government’s new law, as towns with a population that is planned to be more than 10,000 people. Submissions closed on Friday 16 September 2022, with further submissions closing on 14 November 2022. Hearings will take place from May 2023, before a decision is notified by August 2023.
Rotorua – Housing for Everyone – Plan Change 9
Following a request from Rotorua Lakes Council and its partners Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Te Tatau o Te Arawa, Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker announced Rotorua Lakes Council was to join the Teir 1 major urban centres covered by the MDRS, in order to significantly increase housing supply in the District. Housing supply in the city has struggled to keep pace with the population boom, so intensification is needed. The Submission and Further Submission period has now closed. The hearing for Plan Change 9 is planned to be from 14 August to 25 August 2023.
Wellington Region
Wellington City Council – Proposed District Plan
The notification of the Wellington Proposed District Plan occurred on 18 July 2022. The Council included the incorporation of the MDRS provisions within the review of their District Plan, set to become operational in 2025. The parts of the District Plan which relate to intensification will be come operational before the rest of the plan, in 2023. Appeals for the rest of the plan will take place between 2023 and 2024.
Hutt City Council – District Plan Change 56: Enabling Intensification in Residential and Commercial Areas
Originally, the Council came out vehemently against the MDRS, again citing lack of consultation. Its district plan, which had already been changed to allow for higher density building under the NPS-UD, would have to be altered again. Despite this, their plan change was notified on 18 August 2022, with submissions open until 20 September 2022. An independent panel hearing will be held in April 2023.
Canterbury
Christchurch City Council – Housing and Business Choice Plan Change
In September 2022, the Christchurch City Council decided not to formally notify or invite submissions on the proposed Housing and Business Choice Plan Change that would bring the District Plan in line with the MDRS. They were the only body to do so.
Emails proactively released on 24th January 2023 show Minister Parker and Woods requesting the Ministry for the Environment to give advice on possible responses to the non-compliance. Options were given for a non-regulatory response, a response under Part 4 of the RMA, for an Environment Court declaration, and for options under the Local Government Act. It was decided that mediator, Mr John Hardie, was appointed, under section 24A of the Act, in November 2022 to understand the issues with housing intensification in the city. The investigation terms of reference state Hardie must meet with staff and councillors, and Ngāi Tahu. Out of all the options provided in the emails, this seems the most middle-of-the-road option, as there were
However, before the Christmas break period, the Council confirmed they would pursue a fresh proposal in the new year.