The Westland District Council has given itself two more years to decide what course of action to take over the earthquake fault line running through the township of Franz Josef.
The council notified a plan change almost two years ago to establish ''fault rupture avoidance zones'' along the fault line, where no new buildings would be allowed and existing buildings could not be expanded.
Under the Resource Management Act, the council is required to make a decision within two years of notifying a plan change - in this case by August 24.
However, a report by district planner Rebecca Beaumont to the council's meeting last week noted it was ''not possible'' for the decision to be made by then.
Council staff had various steps still to complete including circulating a planning report and providing sufficient notice of a public hearing to allow submitters time to obtain advice.
At its meeting, the council accepted Ms Beaumont's recommendation that a decision on plan change 7 be extended, under section 37 of the Act, to August 24, 2016.
Ms Beaumont told the Otago Daily Times yesterday submitters were concerned about any delays in the process and the council still planned to hold a hearing before Christmas this year.
A total of 20 written submissions were made on the plan change in 2012, some by landowners, businesses and other groups who believe properties included in the avoidance zones will be rendered worthless.
GNS Science predicts the probability of a major Alpine Fault earthquake at 20% within the next 30 years.
