WCC District Plan Submissions Open
Kia ora Aro Valley,
The WCC proposed district plan has now been published and is available to view online.
Plans, policies and bylaws - Proposed District Plan - Wellington City Council
The proposed plan changes the rules about building heights, where they can be built, and their impact on neighbours, it has significant consequences for Aro Valley.
A brief public submission period has commenced and will be open until September 12, 2022.
Plans, policies and bylaws - Make a submission - Wellington City Council
WCC is holding a series of drop in sessions for those who are interested in finding out more.
The WCC proposed district plan has now been published and is available to view online.
Plans, policies and bylaws - Proposed District Plan - Wellington City Council
The proposed plan changes the rules about building heights, where they can be built, and their impact on neighbours, it has significant consequences for Aro Valley.
A brief public submission period has commenced and will be open until September 12, 2022.
Plans, policies and bylaws - Make a submission - Wellington City Council
WCC is holding a series of drop in sessions for those who are interested in finding out more.
- Thursday July 21, 4.30 - 7pm Karori Library, 247 Karori Rd.
- Saturday July 23, 10.30 - 1pm Te Pokapū Hapori, 107 Manners St
- Thursday July 28, 4.30 - 7pm TWO TODMAN, 2 Todman St, Brooklyn.
Urgent Help Needed!
The Aro Valley Community Council is concerned that this plan is not a good way to deliver high density housing while maintaining the liveability of Aro Valley.
We are looking for people with energy and/or expertise to form a group to prepare a submission on behalf of the Aro Valley Community Council. Experience with urban planning, local government, or environmental planning/law would be a bonus, but not a necessity!
This submission is different to those that the community made on the Draft District Plan last year. It needs to:
· Follow the section-by-section format of the Plan.
· Reference specific aspects rather than sharing general views/aspirations.
· Note the aspects of the Plan that we like, as we may need to defend them later in the process.
Email [email protected] if you would like to know more or to register your interest. Please forward this email to anybody you know who might be able to help!!!!!
We are looking for people with energy and/or expertise to form a group to prepare a submission on behalf of the Aro Valley Community Council. Experience with urban planning, local government, or environmental planning/law would be a bonus, but not a necessity!
This submission is different to those that the community made on the Draft District Plan last year. It needs to:
· Follow the section-by-section format of the Plan.
· Reference specific aspects rather than sharing general views/aspirations.
· Note the aspects of the Plan that we like, as we may need to defend them later in the process.
Email [email protected] if you would like to know more or to register your interest. Please forward this email to anybody you know who might be able to help!!!!!
Background to Proposed WCC District Plan
The Proposed Plan is the start of the legal process under the Resource Management Act to change the District Plan - previous rounds of consultation and submissions (on the Spatial Plan and on the Draft District Plan) were all about getting to this point.
The proposed Plan is a complete rewrite of the planning rules for the city. Under the operative Plan (ie the current one, not the proposed new one) Aro Valley is covered by
The new Proposed Plan by contrast
The case for this approach was set out in an Open Letter from Live Wellington. However on 23 June the Council agreed (again by 8-7), to reduce the walkable catchment from 15 mins to 10 mins and improve sunlight protections for parks. These technical changes had a small positive effect on Aro:
The proposed Plan is a complete rewrite of the planning rules for the city. Under the operative Plan (ie the current one, not the proposed new one) Aro Valley is covered by
- a demolition rule, which means you need resource consent to demolish a pre-1930s buildings and redevelop a site; relatively few have been sought and none have ever been declined.
- design controls which mean new builds are encouraged to be designed to broadly reflect the built character of the area; you can see this in the new builds on Aro St, Boston Tce etc over the last 10-20 years
- height and bulk controls which mean resource consent is needed for most new developments - the main practical use to which this is put is managing sunlight and shading between existing and new developments
The new Proposed Plan by contrast
- removes demolition controls from three quarters (75%) of the area of Aro Valley currently covered
- reduces the nature of character protections in the remaining areas, making demolition easier
- removes Aro-specific design guides for buildings outside the much-reduced character areas.
- allows, as of right, heights of between 6 and 8 storeys (depending on the site) in much of the Aro Valley and removes most considerations relating to sun and shading
The case for this approach was set out in an Open Letter from Live Wellington. However on 23 June the Council agreed (again by 8-7), to reduce the walkable catchment from 15 mins to 10 mins and improve sunlight protections for parks. These technical changes had a small positive effect on Aro:
- the six storey area will stop at the bottom of Durham St (and at the same point on the other side of Aro) rather than going all the way to the end of Aro.
- resource consent will now be needed to build 8 storeys to the West of Aro Park and 6 storeys to the North - as of right on the Garage Project site for example will reduce from 8 storeys to 3 storeys.