District Plan  |  3 May 2023

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Christchurch City Council has approved a private plan change that will allow the Homebase retail centre on Marshland Road to expand, following an appeal to the Environment Court last year.

Plan Change 6 is a private plan change request by Reefville Properties to rezone the adjoining land to the north of the existing Homebase retail centre on Marshland Road from Residential Suburban zone to Commercial Retail Park zone.

In August last year, Reefville Properties filed an appeal in the Environment Court on proposed Plan Change 6, seeking to remove policies and rules that restricted the types of stores that could operate before 2031 and that required a minimum building setback from QEII Drive of 12 metres.

The Council and Reefville Properties reached agreement on a revised set of provisions for the plan change following mediation in November 2022, and the Environment Court issued its consent order in February.

The Council today formally approved the revised Plan Change 6, in accordance with the consent order, which will become operative under the District Plan from 13 May 2023.

Read the report.

Plan Change 5E also approved

The Council today also approved the Hearing Panel’s recommendations on proposed Plan Change 5E.

The plan change affects a rule under the District Plan that relates to the insulation of sensitive activities, including residential buildings, within defined distances of busy roads and rail corridors.

It was first notified in October 2020 and has since gone through a submissions and hearings process.

Plan Change 5E’s provisions apply across the Christchurch District, excluding the central city. It affects any building in which a sensitive activity is to be carried out within 100 metres of railways and state highways, 40 metres from the edge of major or minor arterial roads, or 20 metres from the edge of a collector road.

Submitters can lodge an appeal with the Environment Court following notice of the Council’s decision. If there are no appeals, a report will go to the Council for the new provisions to become operative under the District Plan.

Read the report.