Category district plan review   Show all

• Summary of draft changes to landscapes in the current District Plan

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  The Council’s District Plan Committee has recently endorsed the following draft changes for addressing identified issues for further development, which we’re now consulting on with affected landowners and stakeholders:

  • Broadly, the draft landscape areas are similar in location, however a larger area of the district is now identified.
  • Only two landscape classifications are now identified (ONL and VAL).
  • The High Country is where the majority of the increases in mapped ONL and VAL areas are located.
  • Refinement of the extent of the draft ONL and VAL areas in the Port Hills to remove overlap and confusion.
  • Much of the broader draft ONL area includes Department of Conservation land (as it did originally).
  • The margins of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere are now included as an ONL area as they are integral to the broader waterbody of the lake.
  • The entire Rakaia and Waimakariri rivers are now identified (up to the top of the terrace in lower sections). This matches adjacent districts (where they have been reviewed).
  • Resource consents may be required for a wider range of activities to better protect landscape areas from adverse effects. For example, resource consents required for buildings on the margins of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, Rakaia River and Waimakariri River ONLs, and intensification of pastoral farming in High Country may also be subject to resource consent.
    

  
  

• Summary of key issues with existing landscape provisions in the current District Plan

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  As a result of the review of current policies and rules specific to landscapes, we’ve identified the following issues:

  • Existing protected areas and features have been identified on an ad hoc basis and not as part of a comprehensive review of the entire district.
  • Current landscape areas aren’t considered to be adequately protected from the adverse effects from a number of activities, including quarrying, earthworks, mining, and pastoral farming in the High Country.
  • Current provisions in the District Plan don’t follow best practice or are not fully aligned with regional requirements.
  • There is an overlap in between the different landscape areas in the Port Hills, which is confusing and difficult to appropriately manage.