What do the Government's new building intensification rules mean for the Proposed District Plan?

On 20 December 2021, the Government bought into legislation the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Act that seeks to improve the housing supply in five of the largest urban environments in New Zealand. Waimakariri District Council is part of Greater Christchurch, which is a tier 1 urban environment, meaning we are subject to the new requirements in the new act.

The Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Act requires Councils to introduce Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) into the Proposed District Plan. The MDRS provides nine density standards that must be incorporated into District Plans. These density standards will apply to the Medium Density Residential Zone and General Residential Zones within Kaiapoi and Rangiora identified in the Proposed Waimakariri District Plan. The Act also involves changes to residential subdivision standards.

To include the MDRS into the Operative or Proposed District Plan, a new Intensification Streamlined Planning Process (ISPP) has been created that must be used by Councils. The public will have an opportunity to make a submission on the proposed intensification rules during this process, but there will be no appeal process.

Anyone who has made a submission that is affected by the requirements of the Act (once submissions have been full assessed) will be contacted by the Council next year, when further information is available.