About this plan change
District Plan Change 23 brought the District Plan provisions relating to vegetation removal and remnant nikau palm trees in line with the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (RMAA 2009). The RMAA 2009 removed the ability for district plan rules to protect groups of trees over wide, undefined areas – commonly known as blanket protection. This meant that our District Plan’s rules relating to vegetation removal in residential activity areas and the protection of remnant nikau palms in the whole city became invalid on the 1st of January 2012. It is important to ensure that vegetation removal is continued to be managed appropriately in residential activity areas and that remnant nikau palms are continued to be protected in the city.
The plan change was made up of two amendments that ensure vegetation removal in residential activity areas is managed and that remnant nikau palms are protected in the city:
- Inserting a new definition for ‘vegetation’ in the Plan. This definition expressly includes ‘exotic and indigenous’ vegetation.
- Introducing a new Appendix Trees 2 which spatially defines the areas where remnant nikau palms are to be protected.
| Steps | Status of each step | Related documents |
|---|---|---|
| Notification (submissions) | Publicly notified 27 September 2011 Submissions closed 28 October 2011 | Proposed Plan Change 23 and Section 32 Evaluation/Report (PDF 1 MB) |
| Further submissions | Publicly notified 15 November 2011 Further submissions closed 29 November 2011 | Summary of submissions (PDF 104 kb) |
| Hearing | No hearing required | Officers report (PDF 665 kb) |
| Decision | Decision publicly notified 22 May 2012 | Decision (PDF 193 kb) |
| Appeals | No appeals | |
| Operative date | 24 July 2012 | Sign and Seal (PDF 395 kb) |
Contact Us
Please contact us if you have any questions about this change.