Waipā District mayor Susan O'Regan says councillors don't want to be forced to allow this type of development in Te Awamutu, Cambridge or Kihikihi. Photo / NZME
Waipā District mayor Susan O'Regan says councillors don't want to be forced to allow this type of development in Te Awamutu, Cambridge or Kihikihi. Photo / NZME
A request by Waipā District Council to give it more time to meet the requirements of legislation introduced by the former Labour-led coalition Government in 2021 to increase housing intensification to meet demand has been denied by the National-led coalition.
The council wanted an extension until February next year before it had to introduce the medium-density residential housing rules, writing to the Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds and Housing Minister Chris Bishop in March and formally requesting an extension so it could consider its planning response.
Waipā District was one of several tier-one growth councils mandated to make the change.
The Government introduced the Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters Amendment Act in 2021 and required tier-one councils to comply.
Tier-one councils cover Auckland Council, Canterbury, Wellington, Tauranga and Waikato Regional Councils, plus their city councils and some of the district councils, and Rotorua District Council. Waipā falls under the Waikato region along with Hamilton City and Waikato District.
Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan said at the time the requirement for the plan change was a “blunt, heavy-handed instrument” that had caused “huge angst for our community”.
“Council had no option but to follow the directive given by the minister.
Waipā Mayor Susan O'Regan.
“We still maintain that Waipā should not have been lumped in with cities like Auckland and Wellington to start with,” she said.
“We are not against dwelling intensification if it is done well in the right location, but being forced to go down this track has the potential to see houses built that could adversely impact how other people use and enjoy their properties.
“We also need to take into account the required infrastructure to support those houses at an estimated cost of over $600 million.
“We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
The council believed the time extension request was appropriate as the Government had indicated it was looking to make these mandatory requirements optional.
But in his letter to the council declining its request, Bishop said until the Government made decisions on the ‘Going for Housing Growth’ policy, the current legislation stood and must be complied with.
This means Plan Change 26 decisions will need to be notified by the end of August, paving the way for two houses, up to two storeys high, to be built in Te Awamutu, Kihikihi and Cambridge, without the requirement of resource consent or notification to neighbours.
Fifteen-years-ago it was bigger homes on smaller sections causing concern in Te Awamutu. Now the Government says we can fill in the relatively small gaps. Photo / Te Awamutu Courier
Buildings can cover up to half the site area with a 1.5 metre front setback and 1m side and rear setback.
The council said a short extension would allow it to consider the recommendations of the independent hearings panel before making a decision. The recommendations by the panel were made following the hearing of more than 100 submissions when the plan change was first notified in August 2022.
The council would consider the recommendations from the PC26 independent hearings panel at a public workshop in early August before making its final decisions.
Dean Taylor is a community journalist with more than 35 years of experience and is editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.
