Auckland City Council District Plan
Isthmus section |
Central area section |
Hauraki Gulf Islands section - Proposed 2006 (decision version) |
Hauraki Gulf Islands section - Operative (1996)
Private plan changes
A private plan change is a request to council to change the district plan in
some way. For example the rezoning of a specific site. There are several
examples of private plan changes in the Isthmus section of the District Plan.
The following information will be helpful to groups or individuals who are
considering lodging a formal request for a plan change.
Potential applicants are encouraged to discuss their proposal with a planner
from City Planning at an early stage. It is also recommended that applicants
obtain their own professional advice from a planning consultant or a lawyer
specialising in resource management.
Information requirements
A request for a plan change should include the following:
Written request for a plan change
This will include the following information:
- covering letter
- name of the party requesting the change
- mailing address
- where applicable, the site address, legal description, and ownership
details (including certificates of title) of the land which is subject to
the application
- brief description of the changes sought to the district plan.
Supporting information
This will include:
- an assessment of environmental effects, taking into account the
provisions of the Fourth Schedule to the Resource Management Act
- information about the ways in which adverse effects may be avoided,
remedied or mitigated
- an evaluation under section 32 of the Resource Management Act for any
objectives, policies, rules or other methods proposed
- information about any consultation which has been undertaken or is
proposed to be undertaken.
As part of the supporting information, the applicant will be expected to
provide technical and expert reports to support the plan change. We would prefer
one hard copy be supplied along with three soft copies (on discs), however if
this is not possible four hard copies will be accepted.
Depending on
the nature and scale of the proposal, the reports may be required to address the
following issues:
- planning implications in terms of the Resource Management Act and the
district plan
- noise
- traffic
- landscape and visual
- infrastructure especially stormwater and sewerage
- geotechnical issues eg soil suitability
- hazards such as flooding, hazardous substances or soil contamination
- any other issues of relevance to the particular proposal.
The plan change
This sets out the proposed changes to the district plan.
The deposit fee
The application for a change must be accompanied by an initial deposit. You
should discuss the deposit fees with a planner when you discuss your initial
proposal.
Application process
Once the application has been lodged, it will be checked by the planner
handling the application to ensure that all necessary information has been
provided to meet the requirements of the district plan and the Resource
Management Act. The planner will arrange for the specialist reports to be
audited within the council or by consultants acting for the council.
The applicant will be advised if further information is required and if
amendments to the plan change are recommended.
Once all the information has been received, the plan change will be reported
to the Planning and Regulatory Committee who will decide how the plan change
should be dealt with. As set out in the Resource Management Act, the council may
either:
- adopt the request and notify the plan change as if it were a council
plan change
- accept the request and publicly notify it
- deal with the request as if it were a resource consent application
- reject the request but only on the limited grounds set out in the
Resource Management Act.
The applicant will be advised of the council's decision.
Acceptance of the request by the council for public notification does not
imply that the council or council planners have any position on the merits of
the plan change - either supportive or otherwise. It does indicate that the
council believes that sufficient information has been provided so that the
proposal can be publicly advertised and considered on its merits. The
consideration will be in accordance with district plan and Resource Management
Act requirements through the submission and hearing process.
Following the hearing, the council will decide whether to decline the plan
change, or approve it (with or without alterations). The applicant and
submitters then have a right of appeal to the Environment Court if they are not
satisfied with the council's decision.
Where it is necessary to meet legal timeframes, the Planning Fixtures
Subcommittee also has delegated authority to approve notification of requests
for private plan changes.
Costs
As provided for under the Resource Management Act, it is the council's
practice to recover from the applicant all reasonable costs incurred by the
council in processing a privately requested plan change. This is likely to
include the following costs:
- staff costs and consultants' fees
- notification costs (public advertisements, photocopying and postage)
- hearing costs.
The application must be accompanied by an initial deposit.
On notification, a further deposit will be required.
At key points during the plan change process, the applicant will be invoiced
for costs incurred to date. The deposit will be deducted from the final invoice.
If the matter proceeds to the Environment Court, the council will bear its
own costs with respect to those proceedings and not seek to on-charge them to
the applicant. The council does however reserve the right to apply to the Court
for an award of costs.
Additional requirements
Copies of the application and supporting documentation will be needed at the
notification stage. One unbound A4 copy of the documentation will also be needed
for photocopying purposes.
Electronic files of the completed application are also required for council's
website. The applicant should talk to the Council about the best way to provide
the documents in electronic format. In general terms files should be in pdf
format.
It is accepted that some of material such as certificates of title, will need
to be scanned, but wherever possible scanned documents are to be avoided.
Legal information
Part II of the First Schedule to the Resource Management Act sets out the
process applying to requested changes to sections of the district plan.
