Denser housing development is on the way, possibly next door to you. 

As the next step in the Central Otago District Council’s moves to accommodate growth in and around Central’s towns, legal rule changes will soon be made regarding what can be built where.

Council say housing affordability concerns have also driven the changes which are part of their master-planning exercise for the whole region.

Having an advance plan for where intensification can occur and where rural land will be sacrificed for housing aims to give council and therefore ratepayers better control of development.

The current legal changes underway are known as Plan Change 19 (PC 19) and only apply to residential development.  

The public are being asked to give feedback on PC 19 and the sweep of changes it will make to the way the district’s residential areas are zoned and managed.

The proposal is set out in a 34-page document and supplemented by a separate 45-page document outlining legal definitions of different types of housing. A third document of 30 pages provides an assessment of whether PC 19 is the best way to achieve the area’s housing goals. The assessment is favourable.

CODC principal policy planner Ann Rodgers says council wants the community to get involved and to have their say. 

“The residential chapter of the District Plan has not been subject to a full review since it was originally drafted in 1998, so this is important for our district, and we want to know what the community thinks.”

The documents have been prepared by the CODC, with help from a planning consultant.  

Drop-in sessions would be hosted by council on the changes, with details of those yet to be finalised, Ann said.

PC 19 more specifically has been driven by the direction set out in the Vincent (Alexandra area) and Cromwell spatial plans.

It introduces new definitions and rules for large lot residential zones, low density housing, medium density housing and new rules around residential subdivision. 

Among the changes, new ‘Medium Density Residential Zones’ are proposed within the townships of Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell in areas that are within a walkable distance of commercial areas or other key community facilities.

“A more intensive density of development is anticipated in this zone compared with the other residential zones and it is intended to develop over time to provide for a range of housing options, including more intensive options, to meet the diverse needs of the community, provide affordable options and provide a greater critical mass to support commercial and community facilities,” the report states.

PC19 doesn’t deal with rural, business or industrial resource areas or rural settlements zones, according to a council media statement.

Meanwhile submission periods have closed but no decision has yet been notified on Plan Change 18 (PC 18) which deals with an extension to Cromwell’s industrial zones.

PC 18, which also actions the CODC’s spatial plan, would allow a 50.9 hectare extension to the Cromwell Industrial Resource Area in one area as well as adding a separate 11 hectare block. Both border the current industrial area.  

“The land is located between Bannockburn Road and Cemetery Road, north of the Schaffer Beetle Reserve, and fronting onto State Highway 6 between the intersections of Cemetery Road and McNulty Road,” according to a council report.

The proposal attracted nine submissions, three in opposition from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, the Department of Conservation (partly opposing) and Werner Murray. It also received four in support from Highlands Motorsport Park, 45 South, Cerise Orchard and SH6 at Cromwell and two neutral submissions (Aurora Energy and Transpower).

Documents on PC19 can be viewed online on the Council’s consultation platform here and feedback closes in early September.