Council planning manager Louise van der Voort said the proposed change to the district plan was in response to public feedback during the council's consultation on rural development issues.
She fielded several calls yesterday from residents concerned about whether they could use Oamaru stone for new houses and emphasised the change related only to rural homes, not urban ones.
The Otago Daily Times reported yesterday 65 submissions about the council's district plan changes requested Oamaru stone be reinstated as a suitable building material.
Residents, architects and people involved in the building industry are among the submitters.
"When we were doing our rural study [to address rural development issues] the community told us it did not want highly reflective and highly visible material used for homes in the rural area.
"The problem with Oamaru stone is the colour it is," Ms van der Voort said.
When rural residents applied for building consent for new dwellings, they could still apply to use the stone as a building material, even though it was excluded from the list of suitable building finishes.
The application did not require a separate consent.
"Since the district plan changes took effect [on October 12], the council has actually given permission for six cream-coloured houses in low or moderate sensitivity landscape settings [in the rural area], " she said.
There had been no applications yet for rural homes built from Oamaru stone.
Ms van der Voort said the aim of the change to the district plan was for people to think more about how their home would impact on the landscape and whether the dwelling colour would fit in.
"This gives us the chance to consider the impact of the building's colour, particularly in areas of a higher landscape rating, on elevated sites."
There was no limitation on colours or building materials for dwellings in urban areas.
Further comment is being sought on the 218 submissions on district plan changes.
Submissions close on October 2. lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz
