Changes to district and regional plans allow any plan provisions to be replaced and new provisions introduced. Requests for private plan changes potentially enable a wide range of changes such as the rezoning of land, amendments to design controls, and the identification of heritage structures, the key difference being their initiation by parties other than the council.
Private plan changes are typically initiated to provide for some type of private benefit (usually in financial terms) but invariably also result in public benefits such as an increased rating base, greater choice in living environments, or economic development opportunities. To date, landowners and developers have been the usual applicants for a private plan change.
The main benefit of a private plan change is that someone - other than the council - sets the agenda and the start time. In other respects, a private plan change is much like any other change to a plan.
The private plan change process can be used to change any provision (or introduce new provisions) in any district or regional plan. Some examples of when private plan changes could be used include (but are not limited to):
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the rezoning of land to provide for residential expansion or rural residential development, the creation of a business park or a new town development
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rural zone changes to provide for tourist activities and accommodation
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adding an item to the council's heritage list
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amending rules relating to building design controls
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introducing provisions for new utility structures
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replacing development plans that have become out of date
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amending rules referring to standards or other documents that have become out of date
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in conjunction with a resource consent application when aquaculture is a prohibited activity.
The age or stage of the plan itself can affect the decision to request a private plan change. A private plan change allows an applicant to start seeking a change to existing provisions immediately, rather than waiting to make submissions on a proposed plan or a plan review.
A private plan change request can be made to a proposed plan, although the Environment Court has held that if approved it cannot take effect until the plan is operative. An instance where this approach might be utilised is if a person missed making a submission to the proposed plan for the activity/change they wished to pursue. It could also be used to persuade council to promote its own variation to the proposed plan.
In all cases, regardless of the focus of the private plan change there is a need to provide sufficient and adequate information to support the change. This can often require quite detailed material to be supplied and can be costly.
require quite detailed material to be supplied and can be costly.
