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History of the Waitakere City District Plan
- The proposed plan was originally publicly notified in October 1995. After many months of Council hearings, Council decisions were released in August 1998. There were 174 appeals lodged against Council decisions, and about 300 people and organisations later became involved in the legal appeal processes.
- Council's approach to the appeals was to attempt to reach agreements without affecting the integrity of the district plan, while also trying to satisfy the concerns of appellants.
- The vast majority of appeals were settled by agreement. Only three issues needed to go to an
Environment Court hearing – the major one being the
Oratia Structure Plan which, after an initial decision by the Court, was agreed between
Council and the Oratia landowners.
- Major appeal issues which were resolved without having to go to Court included appeals relating to the location of shops in the City, home occupations, sensitive ridgelines, vegetation clearance, subdivision in urban parts of the city, and designations for public works. Many other appeals were also resolved by discussion and agreement.
- The Council is satisfied that only minor amendments have had to be made to the
Plan, such as removing sensitive ridgeline rules from the less significant ridgelines and making changes which better explain what the
Plan means.
- However all of the original priorities remain intact and many appeals have
been resolved with no changes at all to the Plan. These include provisions
which encourage consolidation of development around town centres, railway
stations and main traffic routes, rather than the traditional urban sprawl;
the "Green Network" which protects the
City's bush areas and Waitakere Ranges; and the range of objectives and rules which manage such things as traffic safety, noise and building location, height and design.
- While the process has been a long one, it has been almost identical to similar Councils such as North Shore City and Manukau City.
- The Council embarked on a totally new approach to this Plan which was in line with the Resource Management Act and Council's own strategies for how the city should develop. The
Plan has received national and international awards and recognition, and as recently as 2001 was regarded as one of the two best
Plans in New Zealand.
- The Council expects that the Plan will form the basis of Council's RMA responsibilities for the next 10 years.
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