The Central Otago District Council (CODC) said in a statement yesterday it had adopted the recommendation of its hearings panel on a change to the residential chapter of its district plan that will free up more land for residential development in the district.
Plan change 19 effectively re-zones land for development in Cromwell, Alexandra, and Clyde, while giving effect to the outcomes of the Cromwell and Vincent spatial plans, to meet future growth demand.
The plan change includes a complete and comprehensive suite of changes to the way the district’s residential areas and zones are managed under the Central Otago District Council district plan.
The decision will be publicly notified, which will be subject to an appeal period of 30 working days.
If any appeals are received, the provisions subject to the appeal will not become operative until those appeals have been resolved.
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said the plan change was great news for the district, as it provided a practical means to assist in easing the problem of housing availability and affordability.
"There is no doubt that there is a housing shortage issue in Central Otago, which comes down to supply and demand," he said.
"The census figures released this week reflect the significant growth, amongst the highest in country, which will impact on the demand side of the equation; this plan change is a practical means for council to provide the means to meet the supply issue."
Central Otago’s population had grown by 12.7% over the past five years, and the district now had a population of 24,306, census figures said.
A total of 171 submissions and 76 further (follow-up) submissions were received on the plan change through the consultation process that began in July 2022.
Deputy Mayor Neil Gillespie is chair of the hearings panel.
"PC19 has been one of the most significant plan changes for the council to consider in recent years," he said.
"Some 10 days or so of hearings and many hours of deliberations have resulted in new land being zoned for residential use, identification of some areas for future growth [and] the alignment of existing residential zoning with the proposed new zones, and has provided new provisions for managing land use and subdivisions within the residential zones, to provide for the anticipated growth over the next 30 years."
