Amberley Concept Development Plan
Concept Development Plan
The Concept Plan vision for Amberley is for a town that is aesthetically pleasing, practical to live and work in, and has a strong sense of community life. A number of projects that contribute to this vision are being investigated and considered as part of overall development initiatives by the Ward Committee. These projects include:
• Town entrances – new signage and reduced speed limits.
• Public art
• Walkways and green space
• Boer War Memorial
• Main Road Upgrade
• Zoning
Changes to town entrance speed limits have been discussed at great length with Transit (as the owners of the State Highway) and planning is underway.
The safety improvements to Carters Road are nearing completion - these include the construction of pedestrian refuges and traffic islands, and improved parking. The plan of works and images of progress are available.
The kerb and channel is expected to be completed by Friday 15 June 2007 and all the hard engineering work is expected to be completed by the end of the 22 June 2007. Council is working with Transit New Zealand to develop suitable plantings for the new pedestrian refuges and traffic islands. Planting will occur this winter while the weather conditions are optimal.
Zoning in Amberley
The Council has adopted a timeline for notification of the zoning component of the Amberley Concept Development Plan. The Council has decided to develop a consultative draft plan change for public release. This will allow the community and other stakeholders to provide feedback outside the statutory process required under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). This feedback will be used to develop a Plan Change that fairly reflects the needs and wishes of the community and other stakeholders and the requirements of the Resource Management Act.
Amberley Town Plan Committee
The Council established the Amberley Town Plan Committee to actively drive and progress the development of a plan change associated with the Amberley Concept Development Plan.
The Amberley Town Plan Committee comprises:
• Mayor Jackson
• 2 x Amberley Ward Committee Members (Gary Cooper, John Hibbard)
• Chairperson of the Ward Committee (Judith McKendry)
• 2 x Amberley Ward Councillors (Andrew Smart, Russell Black)
• Additional Councillor (Michael Malthus)
The Amberley Town Plan Committee is also charged with reviewing the consultation documents and the section 32 report.
Committee Progress
Since its inception the Committee has met on eight occasions with the first three meetings open to the public. The Committee discussed a wide range of issues relating to the future development of Amberley as reported in the minutes. The Committee has held one workshop with Landscape Architect Graham Densem to discuss the content of the Landscape Assessment. The Committee has also met three times in a publicly excluded forum to discuss the location of zones. On 3 July, in a public meeting, the Committee met to consider a consultative draft plan change for public release. The consultative draft plan change was adopted with minor amendments and has been released for public feedback.
Public Feedback
Council sought public feedback on the consultation draft plan change. Feedback opened on 13 July 2007 and closed 13 August 2007.
The Committee released a consultation booklet to assist the community in making feedback on the consultative draft plan change. The Committee also released an indicative roading network, walking and cycling network, Graham Densem’s Landscape Assessment,and the reports and minutes developed ‘in committee’ with the consultative draft plan change and Zoning Map.
One report tabled on 23 May 2007 was on Industrial Land. A report on Zones and Lot Sizes was tabled on 10 April, and a Discussion Paper on 3 April 2007.
Feedback Results
Over 250 written comments were received from members of the Community. The Amberley Town Plan Committee met over 4 days in September and heard more than 30 verbal presentations where members of the Community expanded on their written comments. The Amberley Town Plan Committee carefully considered the issues raised in the written comments and verbal presentations.
While the majority of verbal presentations and written comments were supportive ‘in principle’ of the consultative draft plan change, a large number of diverse issues were raised around the practicality and suitability of many of the new areas proposed for development.
A key theme that emerged from the consultation was that members of the public were not provided with enough information to make a detailed and complete assessment of the environmental effects of the plan change. In particular there was a lack of information on upgrades required to core Council infrastructure, including the indicative future roading pattern, water supply, sewerage, stormwater, parks, reserves and walking / cycling links.
The Amberley Town Plan Committee concurred with the views expressed by members of the Community and recommended to Council that rezoning new residential and industrial land be delayed until infrastructure plans are available for:
- Road Linkages
- Water Supply
- Stormwater
- Parks / Reserves and Cycling / Walking Links
Notification of the proposed plan change will occur when infrastructure plans are complete.
The Council decided that it would be more efficient and expedient for private developers to submit plans on how they will manage the effects of their developments. Therefore Council decided that it would not rezone any new areas for residential development; rather it would indicate areas as being suitable for residential development so long as any adverse effects are addressed. People wishing to develop the land indicated as potential future residential will have the opportunity to submit their proposal as a submission when the proposed plan is released for consultation, or they may choose to make a private plan change request at a later date.
The only area that Council decided to include in the proposed plan change is the business area to the east of State Highway One. There has been a minor change to the size of the business area. The area northwards of Turners Road on both the east and west sides of the State Highway One will be rezoned / remain industrial inline with the existing land uses. The Hynds Pipe site will also be rezoned industrial.
In line with the Committee’s recommendation, Council decided to further investigate the industrial site opposite the Waipara Weighbridge. However Council decided that there may be less opposition and greater benefits to the wider District if this site was developed as an agricultural / industrial servicing park.
The Committee made specific recommendations to Council, which Council decided to follow.
Committee Minutes
Unconfirmed Minutes 3 July 2007
Minutes 23 May 2007 (Public Excluded released to the public)
Minutes 10 April 2007
Minutes 10 April 2007 (Public Excluded released to the public)
Minutes 3 April 2007 (Public Excluded released to the public)
Minutes 26 March 2007
Minutes 13 March 2007
Inaugural Meeting 27 February 2007
|