25 Mar 2022

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A Hearings Panel is recommending the use of the Christchurch District Plan to manage the impacts of short-term accommodation on residential and rural areas.

In September 2020 Christchurch City Council publicly notified a proposed plan change – Plan Change 4 Short-term Accommodation – in response to concerns about the impact that Airbnb-type accommodation was having in parts of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.

The proposed plan change sets out planning rules for what types of visitor accommodation can occur in the different zones of the city and under what circumstances.

The public was invited to make submissions on the proposed plan change and a Hearings Panel was convened to consider the feedback.

Next week a report outlining the Panel’s recommendations will be presented to the Council’s Urban Development and Transport Committee.

The report says the Hearings Panel has determined that the proposed plan change is the most appropriate way to address the issues associated with short-term accommodation.

“The Panel agrees with Council’s position that the use of residential dwellings for visitor accommodation provides a range of potential benefits, including more efficient use of housing stock, providing income for property owners, and increased choice for tourists/visitors,’’ the report says.

“Notwithstanding this, the Panel concurs with the Council’s view that the activity can give rise to adverse effects.

“The Panel acknowledges that some providers of visitor accommodation do have their own systems to regulate adverse effects from their activities, but this is limited and the submissions suggest that it is only partially successful. Therefore, the Panel believe it appropriate for Council to manage the effects via controls in the District Plan,’’ the report says.

The Panel is recommending some changes are made to the provisions in the plan change. For example, it is recommending changes to some of the provisions around check-in times for hosted and unhosted visitor accommodation to ensure that travellers arriving on later flights can still access their pre-booked accommodation.

Read the full report.