Proposed District Plan Topic FAQs

On this page you will find handy FAQs about different topics covered in the Proposed District Plan.

In Gore, it's estimated an additional 860 dwellings and approximately 172ha of Industrial Land will be needed in the next 20 to 30 years to meet anticipated residential and business growth needs.

In the Plan there are over-arching objectives that direct how zones should be managed and where growth should be located in the Urban Form and Development chapter. You can learn more about the chapter here.

What is zoning?

Zones are areas of land containing compatible types of uses and activities, and have a particular character and amenity value. For example, a residential zone covers land areas mainly used for housing, and the character is residential.

Zoning may also be used to encourage a particular kind of development or environmental outcome for the future. District Plan zones enable councils to keep certain types of activities contained within an area to help prevent conflicts between different activities. For example, allowing industrial activities in a residential zone will negatively impact people's quality of life.

All land within Gore District has a zone under the Gore District Plan.

Why do we need zoning?

Zoning an area allows rules and standards to be applied to control what happens without resource consent. For example, a dwelling does not need resource consent approval in the residential zone provided specific standards, such as height and boundary setbacks, are met.

Zone rules also define the activities not supported and therefore require resource consent eg industrial activities in the residential zone require consent.

The District Plan includes zone objectives and policies to guide Council staff when processing a resource consent application to ensure the zone's integrity is not compromised. Activities enabled by zone rules can help shape the area over time.

By defining the types of activities a community would like to see in certain areas in the future, the Council can make long-term planning decisions about where we should invest in network infrastructure development, parks and reserves, amenities and community facilities.

What are the current District Plan zones?

The operative Gore District Plan has five zones across the District:

• Residential A,
• Residential B,
• Commercial,
• Mixed use,
• Industrial.

Residential activities are allowed in Residential, Rural and Commercial zones with compatible and similar activities, such as healthcare and home occupations. In the Rural zone, agricultural activities are also allowed. The Commercial zone also allows retail, office, education and community activities.

In the Mixed Use and Industrial zones, a wide range of other activities, such as industrial, commercial (including retail and office), community and education activities are allowed, but residential activities are discouraged.

Why do we need to change the current Plan?

The Gore District Plan does not always reflect current land uses. There are areas zoned Industrial where there are currently residential dwellings, such as on the southern side of Toronto Street, and Residential zones where there are commercial activities, such as vehicle sale yards at the northern entrance into Gore.

The Proposed District Plan must align with the National Planning Standards (NPS) 2019. The NPS provides a framework for all district plans, so there is consistency nationwide. It contains 23 different zone options and special purpose zones, for the likes of airports. You can read the Standards here (External link).

What will the changes mean?

The new zoning will better reflect activities in those areas and provide for other compatible activities to establish.

This will reduce the need for resource consents by enabling existing activities to remain and expand, and encourage other similar activities to establish in those areas. It will discourage conflicting activities.

In some areas, the zoning will remain unchanged to reflect existing activities.

Re-zoning areas will provide for growth. New higher density residential areas, such as the Medium Density Residential Zone, will be identified to meet housing needs and demographic changes.

Changes to the District Plan zones will reflect national planning guidance documents and provide for the community's future needs while protecting the character, amenity and resources valued by the community.

The following zones are included in the proposed District Plan:

What rules might affect what I can do?

Some types of activities are “district-wide matters” and affect every property regardless of the zoning, these matters have their own chapters, for example subdivision, transport, noise or earthworks. The proposed plan also have rules relating to specific mapped features or overlays, for example heritage items or natural hazards such as flooding, that have specific rules relating to them.

The following district wide matters are included in the Proposed District Plan:

What happens if I don’t comply with the rules?

Some activities may not be permitted ‘as of right’ within the district plan. If the activity is not permitted a resource consent is required. A resource consent is a permission from the Council for an activity that might have an effect on the environment. Each resource consent will have an ‘activity status’ based on whether the District Plan enables, manages or discourages the activity. A resource consent may be processed as non-notified, limited notified or publicly notified depending on the scale of the effects.

The activity status categories are:

Permitted Activity – activity can be undertaken as of right, no resource consent required

Controlled Activity – resource consent required, limited matters can be considered, consent must be granted and processed as non-notified

Restricted Discretionary Activity – resource consent required, limited matters can be considered, consent may or may not be granted

Discretionary Activity – resource consent required, consent may or may not be granted

Non-complying Activity – resource consent required, consent can only be granted if the effects are minor, or the activity is not contrary to the objectives and policies of the plan.

Prohibited Activity – resource consent cannot be granted

Will a change in zoning affect my rates?

At the moment rates are set by a ‘rating boundary’. However, this may change through the upcoming Long Term Plan when the Council proposes a comprehensive review of how rates are levied. There will be an opportunity to provide feedback on changes to rates as part of the Long Term Plan consultation process.

What about existing activities?

Existing activities that are no longer permitted can continue to operate as they will have existing use rights. If the activity changes or expands a resource consent would be needed. If you want formal confirmation from the Council that you have existing use rights, you can apply for an Existing Use Certificate. Existing activities that operate under a resource consent continue to operate in accordance with the conditions of the consent.

What does the proposed Plan say about climate change?

There isn't a specific chapter about climate change in the Proposed District Plan. Instead, there are objectives and policies across it. For example, the Urban Form and Development and Natural Hazards chapters recognise the impacts of climate change and natural hazards and associated uncertainty should be taken into account as the District develops.

A compact urban form with housing and employment based closed to centres is also encouraged so that vehicle emissions are minimised. The benefits of forestry and woodlots for carbon sequestering are recognised in the Rural chapter. The benefits of renewable energy resources are encouraged in the Energy chapter.