The Central Otago District Council (CODC) has referred a draft decision on the proposed change to the residential chapter of the District Plan back to the hearings panel for further consideration.

The draft decision and recommendations of the hearings panel was considered at the general meeting of Central Otago District Council on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

In the week prior to draft decision being considered by the CODC, a new Environment Court decision was released in relation to a matter that directly related to evidence received in support of two submissions. 

This was in relation to land that comes under national policy statement for highly production land (NPS-HPL), which determines the productivity of the land.

The Council laid the matter on the table while the panel invited the two submitters to provide written comment in relation to the Environment Court case by Friday, May 10.

The hearings panel will then make an updated recommendation, which will go back to council for the May 29 meeting for a final decision.

The panel first met on May 26, 2023 to consider the plan change, which proposed a complete and comprehensive suite of changes to the way the district’s residential areas and zones are managed under the district plan.

A total of 171 submissions and 76 further submissions were received through the consultation process that began in July 2022.