Residential matter: Housing development in the residential zones

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District Plan Review consultation now closed.

Initial public consultation on key draft changes to the current Selwyn District Plan closed on Monday 8 October 2018. Thank you to everyone who let us know what they thought of the review so far.

What’s next?

Following this initial public consultation on the District Plan Review, the Council will consider all feedback and start developing detailed provisions for the Proposed District Plan. Please note that a summary report on the initial public consultation will be made available on Your Say Selwyn website at www.selwyn.govt.nz/districtplanreview.

It’s expected the Proposed District Plan will be

District Plan Review consultation now closed.

Initial public consultation on key draft changes to the current Selwyn District Plan closed on Monday 8 October 2018. Thank you to everyone who let us know what they thought of the review so far.

What’s next?

Following this initial public consultation on the District Plan Review, the Council will consider all feedback and start developing detailed provisions for the Proposed District Plan. Please note that a summary report on the initial public consultation will be made available on Your Say Selwyn website at www.selwyn.govt.nz/districtplanreview.

It’s expected the Proposed District Plan will be notified in early 2020 for formal public consultation. The longer timeframe is due to the local government elections at the end of 2019 and ensuring the newly elected Council endorses the Proposed District Plan before it gets notified.

We want to know what you think about the draft changes to how housing development in the residential zones is managed in the current District Plan so that the the type and density of housing provided meets the needs of the residents regardless of their age and the stage of life they are in.

The draft changes have been endorsed by the Selwyn District Council for further development as part of its District Plan Review.

How can I have a say?

To give us your feedback on the draft changes , you can:

There will be many consultation opportunities for feedback at different stages of the District Plan Review and this is the first such opportunity. It’s expected that the new District Plan will be notified in early 2020 and be fully in place, subject to any Environment Court appeals, in March 2022.

Background

In Selwyn the majority of housing development in the last 10 years has happened on the outskirts of larger townships, such as Rolleston and Lincoln, rather than near key activity centres ie town centres and business zones. This is likely to have been in response to the Canterbury earthquakes when all development focused towards farmland on the outskirts.

The most common type of housing built in the district is the single storey detached dwelling. It makes up 96% of building consents issued for dwellings between 2013 and 2017. The average dwelling size is 215m2 and most dwellings have three or four bedrooms.

In total there are over 70 residential zones (or Living Zones) in the district, with the sections ranging in size from 300m2 to 10,000m2. The largest number of Living Zones set an average allotment size of 800m2.

Residential development in the current Selwyn District Plan

Current permitted development standards in the District Plan which relate to character, amenity and density of residential areas, and which need to be met as part of resource and/or building consents, cover:

  • allotment size
  • minimum density
  • height
  • recession planes
  • setbacks
  • private open space
  • site coverage and fencing.

There are many forms of alternative housing, such as housing for the elderly and people with special needs, and boarding houses, currently in the district. However, the provisions that address alternative forms of housing, such as retirement villages, in the current District Plan are limited, and those that exist are largely redundant.


  • Key draft changes for the future District Plan

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    The Council’s District Plan Committee has endorsed the following draft changes for further development, which we’re now consulting on:

    • Simplifying the residential zone framework by reducing the current number of residential zones down to four. This will makeit much easier for people to understand and apply for consents. It will also follow the likely national planning standards which are currently being developed by the Ministry for the Environment. Each of these four new zones would have new policies and outcomes while managing any adverse effects on the character and amenity of the residential zone.
    • The four draft residential zones, based on residential density and activities that take place in the zone, would be:
    1. Medium Density Residential Zone – enables medium density residential development around key activity centres in Rolleston, Lincoln, Darfield and Leeston, and neighbourhood centres in Rolleston and Lincoln. In this zone we would encourage medium density types of housing of up to three storeys which would maintain an urban residential character.
    2. General Residential Zone – enables low density residential neighbourhoods within established townships next to the Medium Density Residential Zone or local centres in smaller townships. In this zone we would see low density types of housing of up to two storeys which would maintain a suburban residential character.
    3. Large Lot Residential Zone – would be located between the General Residential Zone and the boundary of the township or boundary with a rural zone. This zone would enable low density residential neighbourhoods characterised by ‘lifestyle’ properties.
    4. Settlement Zone – would apply to townships with no business zones. This zone would enable low density residential development and a mix of commercial, light industrial and community activities which support a small settlement and surrounding rural area.
    • Creating new rules which would make it easier to build a more diverse housing stock and encourage more comprehensive medium housing density. For example, allowing multiple principal dwellings on the same property (conditional on the land size), enabling small dwellings such as ‘granny flats’ to be occupied by not just family members (this would increase housing choice and rental options), relaxing certain development standards for new houses (eg increase site coverage and height).
    • Tailoring development standards by each housing type, ie for detached dwellings, semi-detached, duplex, terrace/row dwellings and low rise apartments, ie up to three storeys high.
    • Developing new definitions for retirement villages, supported accommodation and boarding houses.
    • Making alternative types of housing a restricted discretionary activity within residential zones, subject to appropriate standards, such as traffic, car parking, hours of operation and scale, location and height of the building.

  • Summary of key issues with the current District Plan

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    As a result of the review of current policies and rules specific to housing development in the residential zones, we’ve identified the following issues with the current District Plan:

    • Rules and polices for residential zones are considered to be unwieldy to interpret and administer due to the large number of Living Zones and generic policy framework.
    • The district doesn’t have a diverse range of housing choices.
    • The current District Plan doesn’t accommodate the district’s projected growth in population and expected change in demographics (ageing population and predominately one- and two-person households).
    • There are no specific provisions that address alternative housing, in particular how and where alternative housing can and should be provided for within the district.
    • Permitted standards for traditional housing developments don’t work for alternative types of housing, for example different requirements regarding outdoor spaces, car parking, density-related standards and traffic generation.
    • Lack of certainty for developers due to current non-complying activity status of an alternative housing development.