Draft Waitomo District Plan

For the past few years, Waitomo District Council staff have been undertaking a review of the Waitomo District Plan. The District Plan is the rule book on how land in the District is used, protected and developed.  Council is required by law to review the District Plan every 10 years to ensure it is consistent with national policies and regulation and responds to new challenges (i.e. affordable housing). It has been a huge undertaking, and we’re not there yet.

2022 is going to be a big year:

1. We’re currently engaging on the Draft District Plan..
2. We’re receiving feedback up until 31^st May 2022, your feedback will help us to get it as right as we can
3. Council staff will present the feedback to Council for their final decision.
4. Later, in 2022 we are planning to notify the Proposed District Plan at that time there will be the opportunity to make formal submissions and speak at a hearing.

How could the new District Plan affect me?

The District Plan impacts on almost everything you do across the Waitomo District – setting out the activities you can or can’t do, where you can construct buildings, and what activities you need a resource consent for. The District Plan also controls any adverse effects of activities between you and your neighbours. For example, how much noise you can make, whether you can subdivide your land or how close to a boundary you can build your house. It also looks after other important aspects of the District such as cultural values, historic heritage, natural environment and biodiversity – ensuring our District retains its unique characteristics for future generations.

Some matters that the District Plan controls that you might be interested in are:

• It might mean you can now operate a business from your property
• It could change how much land you need to subdivide
• It may mean there are new areas identified on your property that need to be protected for their cultural or natural values
• It might mean there are new rules about where you can construct a building on your property
• It could mean there are new rules about how you build e.g. your property might be located within a flood or landslide area

What you can do

A good place to start to understand how the Proposed District Plan might affect you is by using the Draft DP Snapshot Tool. It is super easy to use. All you have to do is search the street address or valuation number that you are interested in.

You can also look at the maps using our Draft District Plan Online Mapping Service.

Once you have had a look at the property you are interested in, we suggest you look at the corresponding fact sheets to understand the zoning, overlays etc.  You can access the fact sheets and other key documents that have informed the development of the Draft District Plan here.  

If you want to read the chapters of the Draft District Plan you can access them here.

We may have already been in contact with you because of the work we have been doing on Significant Natural Areas.  If you would like to look at the SNA areas on your property you can do that here. 

Feedback

We are keen on getting as much as feedback as we can.  So, If you have any queries or questions, or want to send us written feedback please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing districtplan@waitomo.govt.nz or call us on 07 878 0800.