District Plan changes accommodate growth

Changes to the Horowhenua District Plan to provide opportunities for growth in the district take effect from 1 November.

Council adopted two changes to the District Plan, which is the primary document that manages land use development and subdivision in Horowhenua, at its meeting on 24 October.

Group Manager Strategy and Development David McCorkindale said one of the changes, Plan Change 2, was needed to cater for growth in the district.

“Our district is already experiencing significant growth, and more is forecast. The population of Horowhenua is expected to grow by just under a third by 2040, which means we’ll need about 244 new homes to be built every year,” he said.

“Plan Change 2 aims to help provide for some of this anticipated growth by allowing greater diversity in residential development within established urban areas.”

The plan change provides for sites between 500m2 and 900m2 in Levin, Foxton, Foxton Beach and Shannon to be subdivided to create infill lots of a minimum size of 250m2 as a Restricted Discretionary Activity, which means Council considers a specific list of factors when deciding whether to grant subdivision consent or impose conditions for a proposed subdivision. These factors include the size and shape of the lot, access to the site, impacts on local traffic, and other specific issues relevant to residential zones.

In addition, it extends the Levin Medium Density Overlay area. This means more sites can be developed for medium density housing – areas where housing density is higher than in standard surrounding neighbourhoods. This provides opportunities to improve the variety of housing types available within the district.

Furthermore, Plan Change 2 provides for up to two residential dwellings on a site as a Permitted Activity, subject to compliance with conditions, meaning it no longer requires resource consent from Council.

“This will make it easier for people to build a second unit on their property, for example to accommodate elderly relatives,” said Mr McCorkindale.

Plan Change 2 also introduces several other changes to the District Plan provisions that apply to existing residential zones to manage residential development.

The other change, Plan Change 1, saw seven additional heritage buildings, structures, and sites protected and listed in Schedule 2 of the District Plan.

Council invited public submissions on the plan changes in November last year and further submissions in February this year. Decisions on the submissions were publicly notified on 31 August.

Mr McCorkindale said there had been no appeals to the Environment Court on these decisions.

A full copy of the District Plan, including these changes, will be available to view on Council’s website at www.horowhenua.govt.nz/districtplan and in hard copy at Council’s customer service centres at its Main Office and Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-pō in Levin, Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom in Foxton, and the Shannon Library from 1 November.

ENDS

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