Published: 06 Mar 2015

Timaru District Council gives notice that the Timaru District Plan Review has commenced.

Timaru District Plan

The District Plan manages all land use and subdivision activities in the District, controlling what land use activities are allowed and where. The District Plan Review is an opportunity to reconsider everything in the District Plan and is required by the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). Please note that the District Plan Review and the Long Term Plan are separate plans and processes, the latter being a financial plan.

How does the District Plan Affect You?

There are a variety of ways the District Plan can affect members of the public. If you own or lease land, the District Plan controls what type of activities you can conduct on that land, what you can build, how high you can build and certain aspects of the design. Amongst other things, it also controls whether you can subdivide that land and how much noise you can make. District Plan’s also control what is happening next door and in your neighbourhood. The District Plan Review provides you with an opportunity to have your say and potentially influence how the new District Plan addresses those matters in the future.

District Plan Review Process

The initial phase of the District Plan Review will occur in three stages. Stage 1 will consist of a scoping exercise that will establish a work programme. This will include consulting the public through open days; consulting statutory bodies, major stakeholders and Community Boards. The focus of the initial consultation will be on issue identification. Amongst other things Stage 1 will also include undertaking a District Growth Strategy and a District Town Centres Study.

Stage 2 will involve implementing a work programme that will be agreed by Council. Discussion documents will be prepared and released to the public for each chapter identified as requiring significant changes.

Stage 3 consists of preparing a Proposed District Plan and releasing it to the public.

After notifying the Proposed District Plan, the District Plan Review will follow the process set out in Schedule 1 RMA.

How can you get involved?

There are a number of opportunities for you to get involved in the District Plan Review, including attending a public open day; making submissions; attending hearings; and lodging appeals. The best way to stay informed about the District Plan Review is to subscribe to the District Plan Review e-mail update service on Councils website.

More information about the District Plan Review is available at www.timaru.govt.nz/dpr.

Last updated: 24 Feb 2021