The committee will recommend to the current Council that it commences the review of the District Plan. It will also recommend to the incoming Council that it establishes a working party to undertake the review of the plan.
This working party will present a workshop to Council in February 2011 and a Scoping Report for the review will be presented in March 2011.
The review, which will examine all aspects of the plan, is expected to last two terms of Council. The first three years will be to produce the plan as far as notification and the second term will undertake consultation and hearings.
Sue Wells, Planning and Regulatory Council Chair says today’s proposed recommendations are the formal trigger for the plan review to begin.
“We are doing it now because if we wait for the incoming Council to become established, we won’t be able to complete the review in two terms. We can’t just tidy up the current city plan, we have to start from the bottom and work up – it’s a massive job,’’ she says.
“The working party will have to question some of the fundamental assumptions in the current plan as they may no longer hold true. This plan was drafted at the height of the “market will deliver’’ philosophy which created the original 1991 RMA.
“Now people expect certainty and this is not deliverable through the current plan structure – so much is interwoven that we can not just fix one issue and hope for the best,’’ Cr Wells says.
“The plan review will enable Council to ensure its plan has a consistent and integrated philosophy around the future development of the city. It will also begin to comprehensively implement the Council’s commitment to the Urban Development Strategy, the Regional Policy Statement and Change 1.
Mayor Bob Parker acknowledges it is an ambitious timetable, but says “we really need to get this right’’.
“I applaud the committee for including extensive consultation,’’ he says.
“It would be nice to think we could do a complete plan review in one Council term. But that is impossible. Striving to do it in two terms is achievable with enormous commitment and input.
“It is such a big undertaking that it is likely the working party will need to meet daily for the first term.’’
