Rural matter: Business in the Rural Zone

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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 the current District Plan's rules for businesses in the Rural Zone (excluding home-based businesses which are covered here). These 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 to, 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

Business in the Rural Zone - current District Plan

Any business, regardless of whether or not it supports a rural activity, can currently be set up in the Rural Zone without a resource consent as long as it covers less than 100m2 and has no more than two full time equivalent employees. If these two standards are breached then the activity becomes a discretionary activity.

A rural activity is an activity that uses land or building(s) for the purpose of growing or rearing crops or livestock, including forestry, viticulture, horticulture and intensive livestock production. Note that businesses supporting rural activities are subject to different standards than the two standards mentioned above.

Rural-based industrial activities under 100m2 in area, and which have no more than two full time equivalent employees, are a permitted activity within the Rural Zone. If these two standards are breached and if the activity takes place within the Outer Plains area of the district then the activity will become a discretionary activity, otherwise it will be a non-complying activity. An example of a rural-based industrial activity is a saw mill.








  • Key draft changes for the future District Plan

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    Draft changes aim to make existing rules for businesses in the Rural Zone clearer and stronger to:

    • ensure only those businesses which are servicing rural activities and have a genuine need to be located within the Rural Zone, are allowed to locate there; and
    • protect rural character and primary production as the priority for rural areas.

    Also note that some of these draft changes may be affected by the draft National Planning Standards which the Ministry for the Environment is currently developing.

    The Council’s District Plan Committee has endorsed the following key draft changes for further development:

    • Clarifying definitions for rural-associated businesses, such as rural business, rural produce seller, and rural-based industrial activity.
    • Setting up a small rural business would not require a resource consent, ie would continue to be a permitted activity as long as certain permitted development standards were met. For example, such standards could be maximum area size (increased from current 100m2 to 200m2) and maximum staff number (keep the current rule for up to two staff).
    • A medium rural business between 200 and 500m2 in size would become a restricted discretionary activity.
    • A larger rural businesses larger than 500m2 would have discretionary status, whereas other non-rural businesses would continue to have non-complying activity status.
    • Consider policy support for businesses with discretionary status to enable them to set up in the Rural Zone if there is a need for them to be close to certain rural activities and/or are inappropriate for any other zone.

  • Summary of key issues with business in the Rural Zone related rules in the current District Plan

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    As a result of the review of current policies and rules specific to intensive farming, we’ve identified the following issue:

    • Rules around what kind of business can set up in the in the Rural Zone aren’t directive enough, which has resulted in non-rural businesses establishing in the Rural Zone. This in turn potentially compromises the look and feel of rural areas.