Komiti Iti Arotake Mahere ā-Rohe|
District Plan Review Subcommittee
Minutes of a meeting held via Zoom on
Thursday 12 May 2022 commencing at 2.00pm
and resumed in the Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 30 Laings Road, Lower Hutt on Thursday 19 May 2022 commencing at 2.00pm
PRESENT: Cr S Edwards (Chair) Cr K Brown (from 2.05pm on 12 May 2022)
(via audio visual on Cr B Dyer Deputy Mayor T Lewis
12 May 2022 and in the Cr N Shaw Ms M Dentice (19 May 2022)
Council Chambers on
19 May 2022)
APOLOGIES: An apology was received from Ms M Dentice for 12 May 2022
IN ATTENDANCE: Ms H Oram, Director Environment and Sustainability
(via audio visual on Ms P Rotherham, Head of Planning
12 May 2022 and in the Ms K Pascall, Policy Planning Manager
Council Chambers on Mr N Geard, Senior Policy Planner
19 May 2022) Ms E Campbell, Pou Whakamahere Kaupapa Here
Mr C Page, Intermediate Policy Planner
Mr S Bellamy, Intermediate Policy Planner
Mr S Davis, Policy Planner
Ms C Taylor, Principal Advisor Research and Evaluation
Ms K Glanville, Senior Democracy Advisor
Mrs A Doornebosch, Democracy Advisor
PUBLIC BUSINESS
Thursday, 12 May 2022
1. Opening formalities - Karakia Timatanga
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2. APOLOGIES
RESOLVED: (Cr Edwards/Dyer) Minute No. DPRS22201(2)
“That the apology received from Ms Dentice for Thursday 12 May 2022 be accepted and leave of absence be granted.”
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There was no public comment. |
4. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
DECLARATIONS
There
were no conflict of interest declarations.
5. Minutes
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Cr Shaw) Minute No. DPRS 22202(2) “That
the minutes of the meeting of the District Plan Review Subcommittee held on |
Cr Brown joined the meeting at 2.05pm.
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Draft Intensification Planning Instrument (22/1009) Report No. DPRS2022/2/86 by the Senior Policy Planner |
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The Senior Policy Planner elaborated on the report. He noted officers were presenting the report as well as the outcomes of the recent community engagement.
Cr Brown expressed concern that consultation with mana whenua had not been completed. She said this should be completed before members considered the officer’s report. She also said the consultation document had only been provided to members 24 hours prior to the subcommittee meeting and she had not had time to fully consider the content.
In response to questions from members, the Policy Planning Manager acknowledged engagement with mana whenua had not yet been completed. She noted that officers were actively engaging with mana whenua partners and were developing a contract to enable this engagement. She said officers expected to report back on the outcomes of the consultation at the subcommittee meeting to be held on 23 June 2022. She noted this meeting would be the final opportunity to make recommendations to Council prior to the plan change notification on 20 August 2022.
In response to questions from members, the Pou Whakamahere Kaupapa Here advised engagement was occurring with mana whenua. She acknowledged that more sustainable processes were needed to manage the engagement. She considered this a low risk given she had discussed with mana whenua in depth about the likely impacts of the plan change. She advised these discussions had included the qualifying matters and the decision to carry over the provisions around sites of significance in the community iwi activity areas. She said concerns expressed by mana whenua included intensification and the effects of this on infrastructure and the proximity of intensive builds to marae and sites of significance. In response to a question from a member, the Director Environment and Sustainability advised the mana whenua vacancy on the subcommittee was still vacant. The meeting adjourned at 2.31pm and resumed at 2.45pm In response to a question from a member, the Director Environment and Sustainability advised that the officer’s report was seeking direction from members for work to continue on the development of the Intensification Planning Instrument. She suggested that a break in proceedings to another date and time would assist members and allow them more time to consider the community consultation feedback. The Chair asked members to provide their preliminary feedback about the matters relating to four and six storey buildings to officers prior to resuming the meeting.
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Deputy Mayor Lewis) Minute No. DPRS 22203 (2) “That in accordance with Standing Order 25.2 c) the item being discussed should be adjourned to Thursday 19 May 2022 at 2.00pm in the Hutt City Council Chambers and not be further discussed at the meeting.”
Cr Edwards abstained from voting on the above matter.
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The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 3.08pm.
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Thursday, 19 May 2022 at 2pm
The Chair introduced Ms Liz Mellish, Chairman of the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust. The Chair advised that under Standing Order 30.5, Ms Mellish had the same speaking and voting rights as members of the subcommittee.
Ms Mellish noted the Palmerston North Māori Reserve Trust (the Trust) was an Ahu Whenua Trust under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Land Act 1993. She said the Trust was formed in 1866 and was a sister trust to the Wellington Tenths Trust. She highlighted there were not many tikanga Māori hearing commissioners and encouraged Council to provide opportunities for iwi members to become commissioners. She said iwi understood the values and history associated with the waterways, land and urupā and would act as kaitiaki for the region. She asked members to consider these issues as the rules and regulations were developed for the Implementation Planning Instrument (IPI). She introduced Richard Te One as the point of contact for the Trust.
In response to a question from a member, Mr Te One asked officers to consider who the housing intensification was for. He noted some areas of the community where intensification had occurred had a high population of Māori residents but many of the new houses were not occupied by Māori.
The Chair thanked Ms Mellish and Mr Te One for their advice and comments.
The Senior Policy Planner noted through the IPI, Council needed to introduce a package of provisions to ensure that six storey buildings were enabled in its residential areas. He said the options presented in the report were seeking direction from members on what should be included in that package of provisions. He highlighted this was broken down into activity status for the rules, the development standards that would apply for buildings of four to six storeys and the notification provisions.
In response to questions from members, the Senior Policy Planner noted officers had received good feedback from the community engagement, albeit a small number of respondents. He said natural hazards was a consistent concern raised by respondents. He advised mixed feedback was received regarding historic heritage and residential character areas. He noted in general participants did not support intensification but if they did, this was generally around the city centre. He said most respondents supported the introduction of new standards under the Medium Density Residential Standards in relation to the minimum landscaping provision, the percentage of windows on street facing facades and an outlook space standard. He advised it was considered the assessment attached to the officer’s report on residential character did not reach the criteria to be a qualifying matter in Lower Hutt. He noted the District Plan could still include some specific policies and matters of discretion in its restricted discretionary rules. He said this would provide guidance and direction in new developments. He highlighted the Riverlink project would have a significant impact on the Lower Hutt city centre and recommended this be considered as part of the District Plan review. He advised this could be addressed once more certainty of those changes were known. He said it could be possible to provide for a separate plan change to target benefits of the Riverlink project. He noted the Riverlink Project Team could make a submission through the IPI process and officers would work with the Riverlink Project Team as the project developed. He said officers could provide a table and maps to provide a more visual impression of what would be included in the four to six storey suburban adjacent zones near walkable catchments.
In response to a question from a member, the Head of Planning advised some developers applied for a resource consent with a sale and purchase agreement for a property, subject to resource consent being granted.
In response to a question from a member, the Policy Planning Manager advised that officers could provide a summary of themes from the consultation feedback to the subcommittee meeting to be held on 23 June 2022. She noted the summary could include advice on which aspects were in the scope of the IPI and which would need to be considered within the full District Plan review.
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The motion was taken in parts. All parts were declared CARRIED on the voices.
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Cr Dyer) Minute No. DPRS 22204(2)
“That the Subcommittee: (1) receives the information contained in the report, including:
(a) the working draft of key chapters of the Intensification Planning Instrument attached as Appendix 1 to the report; and (b) the preliminary results of engagement on the Draft Summary Document; (2) notes the working draft of key chapters of the Intensification Planning Instrument; and (3) requests officers to prepare an Intensification Planning Instrument for consideration at the next District Plan Review Subcommittee meeting through the following approach: (a) activity statuses for rules that apply to 4-6 storey buildings: (i) restricted discretionary rule - resource consent required, may be granted or declined, but Council’s discretion is restricted to matters specified in the District Plan (Option 3).” |
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Cr Brown) Minute No. DPRS 22205(2) “That the Subcommittee requests officers to prepare an Intensification Planning Instrument for consideration at the next District Plan Review Subcommittee meeting through the following approach: (b) specific development standards for 4-6 storey buildings: (i) maximum building height of 22m; and
(ii) no maximum
height in relation to boundary standard, but still with requirements (through
policies and matters of discretion) that ensure impacts on privacy and access
to sunlight for adjoining sites are assessed on a case-by-case basis through
a the resource consent process.
(Option 5);” |
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Cr Dyer) Minute No. DPRS 22206(2)
“That the Subcommittee requests officers to prepare an Intensification Planning Instrument for consideration at the next District Plan Review Subcommittee meeting through the following approach: (c) notification requirements for 4-6 storey buildings: (i) public notification is precluded, but owners and occupiers of adjoining properties may be notified (Option 2);” |
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Cr Dyer) Minute No. DPRS 22207(2)
“That the Subcommittee requests officers to prepare an Intensification Planning Instrument for consideration at the next District Plan Review Subcommittee meeting through the following approach: (d) enabling residential character to be considered where resource consent is required: (i) no consideration of residential character where resource consent is required (Option 1);”
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Resolved: (Cr Edwards/Deputy Mayor Lewis) Minute No. DPRS 22208(2)
“That the Subcommittee requests officers to prepare an Intensification Planning Instrument for consideration at the next District Plan Review Subcommittee meeting through the following approach: (e) where Council could provide greater building heights in commercial zones: (i) provide for taller buildings in Petone Commercial Activity Area - Area 2 (the western end of the Petone commercial area, near the railway station) with case-by-case resource consent assessment of any new building (Option 2).” |
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Resolved: (Cr Dyer/Ms Dentice) Minute No. DPRS 22209(2)
“That the Subcommittee asks officers to explore working with mana whenua partners to increase the pool of Tikanga Māori Commissioners.”
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7. QUESTIONS
There were no questions.
There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 4.00pm.
Cr S Edwards
CHAIR
CONFIRMED as a true and correct record
Dated this 23rd day of June 2022