FAQs

The further submission consultation is an opportunity for affected parties and people with certain interests, or local authorities, to comment in support of or opposition to the original submissions received.

A further submission consultation is not a call for new submission points and topics. A further submission can only be made on an original submission or submission point.

We received a total of 118 submissions.

You can make a further submission if you are:

• A person who has an interest greater than the public in general. For example, if someone submitted to rezone a block of land that includes your property then you could comment on that submission.
• A person representing a relevant aspect of the public interest. For example, you represent a public interest environmental group.
• The local authority.

If you have any queries about the submission process, please contact a Friend of Submitter service, provided by the Ministry of Environment. Contact Jane West at selwynmdrs@jwest.co.nz or call (03) 324 3324.

We encourage everyone to lodge their further submission electronically by using our online submission form for “Part A” (Proposed District Plan variation) and/or “Part B” (private plan changes variations), depending on which original submission you wish to support or oppose. 

 If that’s not possible you can make your further submission by downloading and printing a further submission PDF form or pick it up at Council libraries and service centres.  

 Once you have filled in the hard copy form you can: 

• “Part A” – email it to dprsubmissions@selwyn.govt.nz (Subject line: Variation 1 to the PDP) 
• “Part B” – email it to submissions@selwyn.govt.nz (Subject line: Variation 1 to Private Plan Change #)] 
• post it to Selwyn District Council, Freepost 104 653, PO Box 90/Rolleston 7643, Attention: Variation Submission 
• deliver it to a Council service centre in Darfield, Lincoln, Leeston or Rolleston.

Written submissions must be submitted on the Council further submission form, or on Form 6 of the Resource Management Act 1991. Your submission must state whether you want to present your views at a Council hearing. 

If you make a further submission you must send a copy of your further submission to the person who made the original submission, within five working days of lodging it with the Council. If you have made a further submission on a number of original submissions, then you will need to send copies of your further submissions to each original submitter. 

Submitters’ contact details can be found within the ‘Summit Up’ database (under ‘Submitter ID’):

• “Part A” (Proposed District Plan variation)
• “Part B” (private plan changes variations)

The further submission period is only open for 10 working days as required by the Resource Management Act 1991. We must receive your further submission by 5pm Friday 18 November 2022.

Once we have received all further submissions, we will consider all the submissions in detail and produce a series of Officer Reports with recommendations regarding the submission points made.

Hearings utilising the intensification streamlined planning process provided by the Amendment Act on the submissions to the Intensification Planning Instrument will occur in April-May 2023. Anyone who has made a submission will have the right to attend the hearings and present their submission should they wish to do so. The Council will notify a decision on the variations by 20 August 2023.

There is no right of appeal to the Environment Court on decisions on submissions to the Intensification Planning Instrument.

Since 2020, central Government has reset the rules for how residential areas can grow, and introduced two pieces of legislation that tell councils how they must make that happen: 

• the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) and 
• the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021. 

Among other things, the new rules require five of the largest urban environments in New Zealand, also called ‘Tier 1 councils’, which includes Selwyn district, to encourage housing supply. This is to be done by introducing medium density residential standards via a new Medium Density Residential Zone in relevant residential areas. 

The changes set out by Government to encourage housing supply are not optional. Local councils must make changes to their district plans – ‘planning rule books’ to allow for more housing and at greater heights in relevant residential areas. In Selwyn, this means changing both the Proposed District Plan, notified in 2020 but not yet fully operative, and those private plan change requests to the Operative District Plan that have already been decided.

Key changes introduced through the housing intensification rules include:

• mandatory Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) for relevant residential zones. These new standards allow people to develop up to three homes, each up to three storeys high (11 metres) on most sites without the need for a resource consent. Exemptions will apply based on qualifying matters set out in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), such as heritage areas and protecting nationally significant infrastructure. It’s important to note that the medium density standards are optional. It will be up to landowners to decide if they wish to develop the land to the permitted standards, or to a lesser level of density.
• a new planning process which Tier 1 councils must use to implement intensification policies quicker. This process is called the Intensification Streamlined Planning Process (ISPP). This means, while the public will have an opportunity to make a submission on the proposed changes, there will be no right of appeal to the Environment Court.

Tier 1 councils must publicly notify the new rules and policies enabling medium density and intensification in their district plans by 20 August 2022 and for Selwyn district, decisions must be released by 20 August 2023.  

For more information on the legislation check the Ministry for Environment’s information sheet.

No, we cannot. We are directed by law to implement both the NPS-UD and the Enabling Housing Supply Act and make changes to the district’s planning rulebook. The changes made by the Government are mandatory and we must comply with legislation.

Current private plan changes that have requested residential rezoning within Rolleston, Lincoln and Prebbleton and are to be varied to align with the Amendment Act include the following private plan changes (PC) to the Operative District Plan:

• PC68 and PC72 in Prebbleton
• PC69 in Lincoln 
• PC71, PC73, PC75, PC76 and PC78 in Rolleston. 

All eight of these plan changes have already been through a public consultation process and have had a decision made by Council, but now need to be amended to include Medium Density Residential Standards, except where a “qualifying matter” applies.

The new housing intensification rules also require councils to vary private plan changes to the Operative District Plan that were notified prior to the new legislation coming into effect (20 December 2021) to incorporate Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) in relevant residential zones to align with the Amendment Act. 

The Council must notify the variations to these private plan changes at the same time it notifies its own variation to the Proposed District Plan. 

Land affected by Council-approved private plan changes will be able to be developed on after the variations are notified on 20 August 2022. The exception is those private plan changes where the appeal period remains open or any appeal remains unresolved. 

However, as the land subject to these private plan changes is ‘new’ residential land only rules under the Operative District Plan apply. The Medium Density Residential Standards will not have immediate legal effect within these areas from the date of notification of the variation. 

Because the Council has already approved the rezoning of the land under the Operative District Plan.

The Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) are outlined in Schedule 3A of the RMA and the table below. They permit up to three houses, of up to three storeys high (11m plus 1m for pitched roof) per site in relevant residential areas, without the need for a resource consent provided the standards listed below are met. 

DRS developments must still meet all other non-density or built form related provisions in the Operative and Proposed District Plans, otherwise resource consent may be required. For example, you may need to get a consent for earthworks related to your development. Building consent requirements still apply.

The legislation also requires the density and building height to be amended (where necessary) in Neighbourhood Centre, Local Centre, and Town Centre Zones that are adjacent to residential zones. This is to ensure the density in these commercial areas is compatible with the permitted density of the adjacent residential areas.

For more information on Medium Density Residential Standards check Ministry for Environment’s guide https://environment.govt.nz/publications/medium-density-residential-standards-a-guide-for-territorial-authorities/.

The standards have immediate legal effect from the date of notification on 20 August 2022, except where qualifying matters apply. This follows Government’s objective to simplify the planning process and make it easier and faster to build higher density housing.

An independent hearings panel will hold hearings on the submissions to the variation in early-to-mid 2023 and Council must notify a decision on the variation by 20 August 2023.

Development proposals that meet the Medium Density Residential Standards (and are not affected by a qualifying matter) can proceed as a permitted activity from the date of notification on 20 August 2022.

Where proposals don’t meet the Medium Density Residential Standards and require a resource consent, applications will be considered against the Operative and Proposed District Plan provisions. However, the objectives and policies are required to be given full weight, meaning they will be given priority over the Operative and Proposed Plans.

This doesn’t apply to sites where qualifying matters are proposed until a decision has been reached. For development proposals on sites where a qualifying matter applies or the site is within a proposed new Medium Density Residential Zone area, the applications will be assessed against the Operative and Proposed District Plans, until Variation 1 is operative.

Compliance with the MDRS doesn’t exempt landowners from complying with all other relevant Operative and Proposed District Plan provisions. Where rules in the district plans can’t be met, resource consent is required. Building consent requirements also apply.

When we talk about density we’re talking about how compact the housing in our district is. For example, the size of our sections and how many storeys high we can build.

Low density is typically large sections, for example 800m² with a house and a large backyard. Higher density can be smaller sections or multi-level townhouses.

Enabling higher density housing does not mean it will happen, or that it will happen in all the relevant residential areas at once.

The variation to the Proposed District Plan only creates opportunities for greater housing intensification, but it will not require that it occurs when a development is proposed. The District Plan contains other planning rules that developments need to comply with relating to earthworks, natural hazards, protection of significant natural areas etc.

It is largely up to developers and landowners what type of housing gets built and where – within the rules. They have other matters to consider including the financial viability of development. This viability is informed by factors such as market demand (are there enough people that want those types of houses to sell them all), land prices, the cost of building materials, construction sector capacity, infrastructure servicing, and site topography.

The Amendment Act also includes rules about subdivision. In the relevant residential areas, there is no minimum lot size, provided it is achievable to construct a residential unit to the MDRS on every allotment within the subdivision.

The Government allows for some exemptions that may allow the Council to modify required MDRS. Called ‘qualifying matters’ they are the characteristics within some areas where building heights and density may be limited. 

Qualifying matters may include such things as sites of cultural, historic, or ecological significance or areas with natural hazards.

The Council has identified the qualifying matters within the relevant residential zones of Rolleston, Lincoln and Prebbleton townships. They are outlined in the table below and can be viewed on the Proposed District Plan planning maps or in the relevant chapter of the Proposed District Plan.

The qualifying matters have been justified in the section 32 report for Variation 1. You can read the Section 32 report ‘Variation 1: Housing Intensification at www.selwyn.govt.nz/yoursay. 

Qualifying Matter Areas comprise the following:

The Council is currently considering whether both development and financial contributions will apply to pay for the infrastructure that is necessary to support an increase in housing density. If financial contributions are proposed to be introduced, this will occur via a separate plan change to the district plan at a later stage.

No, there is no ability to appeal the Council’s decision on the variation to the Environment Court. An appeal may be made to the High Court on a point of law.

The Council must notify a decision on the changes to the Proposed District Plan by 20 August 2023. Decisions on submissions on the Proposed District Plan will be released at the same time. This means we expect the Proposed Plan to become operative soon after that.

We are required to do the variation to the Proposed Plan and this has taken time. We needed to make sure that the variation covers all the requirements and proper process is followed.

The District Plan Review process has been ongoing for several years. In October 2020 the Proposed District Plan was notified for public submissions. The submissions on the Proposed District Plan will continue to be heard separately to submissions on the variation, which follows an intensification streamlined planning process. However, as the Proposed District Plan hearings are almost complete, the Council has decided to align the decision making process with Variation 1 and release decisions on both processes together, prior to 20 August 2023.