The Dunedin City Council’s legal representative is to respond today to some points made by submitters in recent weeks.
Council officers will weigh in tomorrow and further site visits are planned for the hearing’s decision-making panel on Wednesday.
The hearing is specifically about possible rezoning to enable greenfields development, affecting areas such as Concord, Brighton, Fairfield, Portobello and the Taieri Plain.
Hearing chairman Gary Rae said on Friday broad principles from what was proposed would be discussed today.
"They are quite fundamental to some of the matters we’re considering, and the panel will reserve its right to obtain its own legal advice if it wishes to do so," Mr Rae said.
The panel is considering proposed changes to the council’s second-generation district plan that are generally aimed at enabling additional housing capacity.
Adjustments to the district plan were needed because of a projected shortfall in housing capacity.
Three hearings have already concluded and they were principally about rules allowing housing intensification and providing more flexible development options within the city.
Rule changes so far would enable hundreds more homes to be built in Dunedin, the council has said.
The latest hearing relates to land not yet developed, covering limited areas where the city might grow.
Council officers and experts are expected to respond in detail to submitters’ points tomorrow and respond to questions from the panel.
Wednesday’s planned site visits are in addition to two lots of site visits carried out by the panel already.
Providing for greenfield development opportunities has been described in a planning report as giving choice for Dunedin’s residents, for housing type, price and location of households.
However, there has been reluctance to allow rezoning where this would not be well aligned with district plan objectives, and where land is considered highly productive.
Sites located on the Taieri Plain have been identified as having a higher potential for rural productivity, compared with others in outer areas of Dunedin.
Rezoning isolated and disconnected pockets of land, when it is some distance from services and public transportation, is generally considered not consistent with maintaining a compact city, it is stated in a planning report.
