District Plan

District Plan text and maps online

Current District Plan News

The District Plan was made operative in August 2003 and was last amended 17 August 2009.

• Plan Change 7 (Quarrying and Mining) became operative on 17 August 2009.  
• Plan Change 13 (Amberley) was publicly notified on 1 March 2008.  The recommendations of the hearings panel, which amended the proposed change, were adopted by Council on 17 February 2009.  On 17 December 2009 the Council signed off changes to the District Plan as directed by consent order from the Environment Court. The new provisions became operative on 18 January, 2010.
• Plan Change 14 (Hanmer Springs Residential (River Edge) Zone) became operative on 17 August 2009.
• Plan Change 15 (Buxton Gore Bay Ltd) was publicly notified on 26 July 2008.  The recommendations of the hearings panel, which amended the proposed change, were adopted by Council on 24 September 2009. The decision has been appealed.
• Plan Change 16 (Micah Properties Ltd) was publicly notified on 15 November 2008.  The recommendations of the hearings panel, which amended the proposed change, were adopted by Council on 27 August 2009.  The decision has been appealed.
• Plan Change 17 (Miscellaneous) became operative on 7 November 2009.
• Plan Change 18 (Frost Control Fans) was publicly notified on 6 December 2008.  The plan change was adopted by Council on 24 September 2009 with amendments. The decision has been appealed.
• Plan Change 19 (Gore Bay Design Standards) was publicly notified on 6 June 2009.  The recommendations of the hearings panel, to withdraw the proposed change, were adopted by Council on 26 November 2009.
• Plan Change 20 (Financial Contributions for Upgrade of Argelins Road/ Woodbank Road/SH7A Intersection) was publicly notified on 8 August 2009.  The recommendations of the hearings panel, which amended the proposed change, were adopted by Council on 17 December 2009.  The decision is open to appeal for 30 days.

Purpose of the District Plan

The District Plan is a requirement of the Resource Management Act 1991. The purpose of the Act is sustainable management of natural and physical resources while avoiding, remedying or mitigating adverse environmental effects and providing for the well being of communities. A District Plan provides objectives, policies and methods to achieve management of the effects cause by the use and development of natural and physical resources, in order to carry out the purpose of the Act.

Hurunui District Plan Framework

The Hurunui District Plan is divided into three main parts;

1.  Management Strategy

This part of the Plan identifies important issues within the Hurunui District based on broad concepts such as;

Under the broader heading, issues are identified and objectives established to address those issues. Policies are developed for each objective and more specific methods for achieving those policies are set down.

The first section of the Plan therefore establishes a hierarchy of management tools on which the remainder of the District Plan is based.

2. Management Code

This section of the District Plan implements the objectives, policies and regulatory methods set out in the Management Strategy. The Management Code is divided into the following sections

• District Wide Rules
• Environments of Special Concern
• General Procedures
• Interpretation
• Appendices

3. Planning Maps

The Planning Maps are contained in a separate volume to the text of the Plan. The maps are divided into sections for ease of use

• General Management Areas
• Land types
• Urban Areas

Different areas contain different zones, for example in the Urban area there are a number of zones such as Residential, Industrial, Open Space and Rural Lifestyle. 

More Information About the District Plan

For more information about the District Plan or to establish what zone you are in and how rules may affect you, please contact the Amberley Office of the Hurunui District Council and ask to speak to a Planning Officer.

The District Plan is available for purchase in hard copy and on CD. For more information please contact Policy Planning. For costing, please see our Fees and Charges schedule.