UNDERSTanding Wellington City’s WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT PLAN 1 UNDERTANDING WELLINGTON CITY’S DISTRICT PLAN CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................3 1.1. Overview of this Guide .....................................................................................................3 1.2. What is the District Plan? .............................................................................................4 1.3. What does the District Plan try to achieve? ........................................5 1.4. How is the District Plan implemented? .....................................................5 1.5. How is the District Plan structured? ..............................................................7 2. Zones ..........................................................................................................................................................................8 2.1. Overview of this Guide .....................................................................................................8 2.2. Central Area .....................................................................................................................................8 2.3. Business Areas ............................................................................................................................8 2.4. Residential Areas......................................................................................................................9 2.5. Centres ...............................................................................................................................................10 2.6. Institutional Precincts ....................................................................................................11 2.7. Airport and Golf Course Recreation Precinct .................................11 2.8. Rural Area .......................................................................................................................................12 2.9. Open Space and Conservation Sites .........................................................12 3. Specific issues ..........................................................................................................................................13 3.1. Heritage .............................................................................................................................................13 3.2. Utilities and designations..........................................................................................13 3.3. Renewable energy .............................................................................................................13 3.4. Earthworks ....................................................................................................................................14 3.5. Contaminated land ............................................................................................................14 4. Glossary ...............................................................................................................................................................15 2 WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. OVERVIEW OF THIS GUIDE The purpose of this guide is to outline what For a more detailed understanding of the District the District Plan is, why we have one, how it Plan’s provisions, please consult the plan itself is implemented, and what it tries to achieve – you can find it at Wellington.govt.nz (search for Wellington. District Plan) – or talk to the Council’s District Plan Team. Section 1 introduces the plan and answers these questions, while sections 2 and 3 provide an outline of the plan contents. 3 UNDERTANDING WELLINGTON CITY’S DISTRICT PLAN 1.2. WHAT IS THE DISTRICT PLAN? The Wellington City District Plan sets out the In addition to outlining the appropriate policies and rules that Wellington City Council scope and processes, the RMA also uses to manage the city’s natural and built provides a wider regulatory structure that environment – sustainably, sensibly and fairly. includes the District Plan. This structure It is a legal document which Wellington City is outlined below. Council is required to have under the Resource The District Plan is not the only city Management Act 1991 (the RMA). planning tool used by the Council. The RMA is New Zealand’s main piece of The Council’s approach to city planning is environmental legislation, and provides a much broader, drawing not only on the framework for managing the effects of District Plan but also on other strategies and activities on the environment. The key aim policies covering a wide range of issues of both the RMA and the District Plan is (eg transport, urban design, heritage or sustainable management of natural and parks). Some areas also have location-specific physical resources. Sustainable management documents, such as the Johnsonville Town means balancing current human needs and Centre Plan. These plans, policies and activities with the need to protect the natural, strategies often feed into the District Plan physical and built environments and the in addition to containing other processes resources they provide. and methods of implementation. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENTS STANDARDS REGIONAL POLICY STATEMENTS REGIONAL PLANS DISTRICT PLAN RESOURCE CONSENTS DESIGNATIONS 4 WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL 1.3. WHAT DOES THE 1.4. HOW IS THE DISTRICT PLAN TRY to ACHIEVE? DISTRICT PLAN IMPLEMENTED? Through the District Plan, the City Council seeks to turn public desires and broad sustainable Resource consents management principles into a practical set of The District Plan allows some developments to guides and controls for Wellington City. take place as of right and without the Council’s While the plan’s provisions are specific to specific consent (although usually subject to particular zones, they can be grouped under certain standards specified in the plan). Other five overall goals: developments that have the potential to cause • Protect and enhance the natural or ‘green’ environmental impacts are categorised as areas of the city. This includes the Town Belt, ‘controlled’, ‘discretionary’ or ‘non-complying’ Outer Green Belt, rural and open space zones, and may not take place without a resource and conservation sites. consent. Further information about these categories is provided in the glossary (page 14). • Encourage more intensive and mixed-use development within the existing urban area to The resource consent process is the main achieve better use of transport, infrastructure method of implementing the District Plan. and energy – in other words, a compact and When someone applies for resource consent, more sustainable city. the Council assesses developments or activities • Improve the overall quality of the built they are planning against the objectives, environment from an urban design policies, and rules of the District Plan and any perspective. effects the proposed development may have on the environment. • Reduce the risks associated with natural and technological hazards. More detail about resource consents, how to • Safeguard the natural environment – land, air apply for them, and how to make submissions on and water – from pollution and contamination. publicly notified resource consents can be found in the Council’s publication, A Guide to Resource To achieve these goals, the District Plan sets Consents, available free from the Council’s offices out a range of objectives, policies, methods and and website. For more information, please rules. Their aim is not to restrict development, contact the Council’s resource consents staff on but to guide and control the effects of 499 4444, or call in to Level 1, Council offices, development on the environment. 101 Wakefield Street. 5 UNDERTANDINGING WWELLINGTON CCITYITY’S’S DDIISTRIICT PPLLAN Designations Plan changes The RMA allows for areas of land to be The District Plan is subject to ongoing designated for use as network utilities (such as monitoring and review. Changes to the plan roads and telecommunications facilities) or large may be initiated by the Council or private public works (such as schools). These designated persons. Reasons for plan changes include: areas (or ‘designations’) are identified in District • new information or research becoming Plan maps. available Land can only be designated for public works • new legislative requirements from central or network utilities by ‘requiring authorities’. government or regional council These can be: • changes to public opinion or wider policy • ministers of the Crown • requests to develop or use land in a manner • local authorities different from that provided for in the plan. • approved network utility operators (generally organisations which provide infrastructure). Proposed plan changes are always publicly notified, and anyone may make a submission Once a designation is put in place, the requiring on the proposal. This is normally followed by a authority may do anything allowed by the further submission stage and a public hearing. designation, and the usual provisions of the Once the Council has made its decision, it may District Plan do not apply to the designated area. be appealed to the Environment Court. A designation also places restrictions on what Further information on designations and plan anyone other than the requiring authority can do changes can be found