FAQs about business in the Rural Zone

To protect the character of rural areas and the use of the area for primary production, it’s important that the Council controls what type of business can set up in in the Rural Zone. The draft changes seek to encourage businesses that don’t service rural activities and don’t have a genuine need to be located within the Rural Zone to instead set up in the district’s commercial and business zones. However, the District Plan also needs to balance this approach with attempting to enable rurally associated businesses.

At the same time the future District Plan needs to allow home-based businesses to establish in the rural area. For more information on draft changes to home-based businesses in the District Plan check out the Selwyn District Plan Review: Home-based businesses factsheet.

There are many types of activities which could potentially be a rurally associated business. Examples of such businesses include farm machinery engineering works and bailage companies.

At this stage of the review to help us shape the detailed rules for businesses in the Rural Zone in the future District Plan, we need public feedback on what type of businesses should be allowed in the Rural Zone. Please submit survey on this page.

As part of the review of the current District Plan we’re also working on ensuring that there’s sufficient business-zoned land, which is adequately serviced and is of the right scale, configuration and zoning, in the right locations around the district. For more information on the review of business zones-related rules and policies check out Selwyn District Plan: Business in small settlements land factsheet (which describes draft changes that affect setting up a business in small settlements with no business-zoned land) and Selwyn District Plan: Home-based business factsheet (which describes draft changes that affect setting up a home-based business in the district).

For more information about the Council’s preferred option for draft changes to business activities in the Rural Zone and all the work done to date as part of the review visit Council website where all the reports developed for the District Plan Review are kept.