The removal of car-parking requirements and relaxed building height restrictions are on the horizon for Christchurch after the central Government announced a new National Policy Statement on Thursday.
Under the Resource Management Act 1991, Christchurch City Council is statutorily required to implement changes to the Christchurch District Plan to bring it into line with the new National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD).
Acting Mayor Andrew Turner says the Council provided a submission to the Ministry for the Environment on a discussion document regarding National Policy Statement last year. The Council was mainly concerned that the legislation applied a blanket one-size-fits-all approach to urban development and didn’t take into account Christchurch’s unique situation.
“We’re disappointed that our feedback hasn’t been reflected as we might have hoped in the final National Policy Statement,” Acting Mayor Turner says. “The Council is now assessing the implications of the new legislation, but it is likely that within two years we will be required to enable higher building heights and greater levels of density in certain parts of the city, including the central city.”
As part of a Plan-change process, the Council will notify the amendments to building heights and densities for public submissions within the next two years.
The NPS-UD also requires District Plans to remove minimum car-parking requirements (except for accessible parking) for all new urban developments. The NPS-UD states that car-parking requirements must be removed without going through a plan change process.
The Council will amend the car-parking requirements after the NPS-UD comes into effect on 20 August 2020.