Webinars to explain planning changes

The first of three webinars will kick off next week as Waipā District Council tries to explain radical changes to the district’s planning rules.

Alongside big cities, Waipā is caught up in a raft of law changes which aim to see more houses, built faster. The changes will force some councils to dramatically relax existing planning rules, meaning less control over issues like sunlight, setbacks, privacy and views.

The Government wants three houses, three storeys high to be built on single sections, without needing a resource consent. But Council says Waipā’s existing infrastructure like pipes and roads could not cope. It wants this taken into account, and will argue Council should only be forced to permit up to two houses on each site – not three.

While all residential zones in Kihikihi, Te Awamutu and Cambridge could be affected by the changes, smaller Waipa villages and rural areas will not.

Group manager district growth and regulatory services Wayne Allan said the law changes from Wellington were driving “horrendously complicated” changes to Waipā’s District Plan. All ratepayers would begin to receive letters and information this week, he said, with more information on the Council’s website. Independent advice would also be available through a government-funded independent advisory service.

To help, Council will host three online webinars from 6pm-7pm on 22 August, 29 August and 1 September. Participants could register now at www.waipadc.govt.nz/planchange26 and are encouraged to send in questions early. Written questions would also be enabled on the night via an online chat function. But given numbers expected, Council could not host a discussion format.

“We’ll be providing a broad overview of what’s planned and will do our best to answer as many questions as we possibly can. It’s an opportunity for us to make planning and infrastructure experts available to as many people as possible within the short time-frame we’ve been forced to work within.”