21 Aug 2024

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Christchurch City Council will ask the Government for more time to complete parts of its decision-making on Plan Change 14 while it seeks clarity about recommendations from the Independent Hearings Panel (IHP).

The Council today approved asking the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop for an extension to the 12 September deadline for its Housing and Business Choice Plan Change (Plan Change 14), specifically for the parts it will not be able to decide in time. 

The Council will ask for the deadline to be pushed back to 20 December 2024 while it works through clarifications with the IHP on some of its recommendations.  

Mayor Phil Mauger says it is important the Council fully understands the IHP’s recommendations to get the best possible outcome from the plan change process. 

“If there’s any uncertainty about the information from the IHP, then that needs to be worked through now, in an appropriate timeframe, before we get any further down the decision-making track,” Mayor Mauger says. 

“This whole process has been a huge undertaking for our city, and we’ve always said we want to get the best result. Having more time to get clarity means we’re putting ourselves in a better position to make good decisions later in the year.” 

Council staff filed an urgent memo with the IHP on Monday to seek clarification on its 15 August minute which included a number of changes to earlier recommendations.  

A report tabled at today’s Council meeting highlighted that the IHP has also recommended redrafting all provisions related the residential chapter of the District Plan, which alone will take longer than the current deadline allows, it said. 

The Council’s 4 September meeting to consider Plan Change 14 will now be scaled down to consider a limited number of the IHP’s recommendations, including heritage items, heritage settings and qualifying matters that are new or continued from the operative District Plan.  

In April, Minister Bishop approved the Council’s request for a time extension to parts of Plan Change 14. 

The Council is currently required to only make decisions on those parts of the plan change that implement policies 3 and 4 of the Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development by 12 September.   

Decisions beyond those policies do not need to be made until December 2025, meaning the Council has more time to consider what wider housing intensification will look like for the district. 

In May, the Council agreed in principle to limit its decisions to the IHP’s recommendations on greater heights and densities in and around the central city and suburban centres, as well as recommendations related to Sydenham Mixed Use areas and financial contributions for tree canopy cover.