Nelson City Council will decide the next steps for Plan Change 29 (PC29) in a Council meeting on 5 June after receiving reports from the Independent Hearing Panel.

After considering numerous public submissions and engaging in thorough deliberations since November 2024, the Panel has recommended approving some of the Plan Change provisions.

Group Manager Environmental Management Mandy Bishop says many of the submissions received expressed concern about enabling increased density in residential zones and changes to rules around heritage, state highway noise and slope hazards.

“The hearing panel has listened carefully to these submitters and outlined a way forward for Plan Change 29 that addresses their concerns while still paving a way for some of the key aims of the Plan Change.”

Recommended changes:

• Increased building heights and revised development standards within the Inner City Centre and Fringe zones, enabling greater residential and commercial development
• Updates to flood, fault, and liquefaction hazard overlays were also supported, along with new provisions allowing enabling Papakāinga development within the Inner City and Suburban Commercial Zones
• Amended provisions for the Manuka St hospital site, providing opportunities to enable the on-going operation of the hospital.
• The rezoning of the St Vincent and Vanguard Street industrial area from Industrial to Inner City Fringe, opening the door to more diverse and intensive land uses in this key location

The panel did not support:

• General, Medium, and High Density Residential Zones and related rules for residential housing development
• Increased building heights in suburban commercial areas
• Most of the proposed changes to heritage, state highway noise and slope hazard overlays

“If adopted it will enable greater housing intensification and a more flexible use of land in areas close to the city centre,” says Mandy.

“The Independent Hearing Panel recommendations align with Council’s goal to revitalise the city centre and would enable higher density development to start in city and fringe zones, a phased approach many submitters supported.”

What is PC29?

PC29 is a proposal to amend the Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP) to better support housing growth and urban development. Designed in response to ongoing housing pressures and in line with central government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), PC29 aimed to introduce greater flexibility in residential and commercial planning provisions across the city.

PC29 sought to enable more housing in existing urban areas, supporting compact and efficient development, and responding to local needs identified in the Nelson Tasman Future Development Strategy (FDS) and Te Ara ō Whakatū – City Centre Spatial Plan. The proposal included new residential zoning, increased building heights, revised rules for Papakāinga and updates to infrastructure and natural hazard overlays.

Nelson City elected members have now received the Hearing Panel’s reports detailing their decisions on submissions and recommended changes to current planning provisions. They will decide the next steps at a full meeting of Council on 5 June.

For more information about proceedings next week, please refer to the Council report.

For more information on Plan Change 29, including the full recommendations and maps, visit the Shape Nelson https://shape.nelson.govt.nz/plan-change-29

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