Wellington City Council District Plan Review - Drafting The New Design Guides

Details

Planning for Growth (District Plan Review) Context
Wellington City Council (‘WCC’ or ‘the Council’) is currently undertaking the Planning for Growth programme of work which includes a review of the Urban Growth Plan and a full review of the District Plan. The programme is the Council’s response to significant population growth projections – 50,000-80,000 people over the next 30 years.

The background work required for the District Plan Review process is currently underway, with the goal to have a Draft District Plan out for consultation in March 2021 (non-statutory consultation) and a Proposed District Plan publicly notified in late 2021 (statutory consultation under Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act).

An important part of providing for more growth in our District Plan is ensuring that new development is well-designed and contributes to liveable communities. This was reiterated by the community in 2019 through city-wide engagement on four growth scenarios. There was considerable support for a compact city that involves intensification in the Central City and in and around suburban centres, but not at the cost of neighbourhood amenity and character. At the same time, these areas will need to be able to evolve, so that the City can continue to provide for diverse living and working preferences through design principles and guidelines derived from Planning for Growth goals.
Background to the District Plan Design Guides
The District Plan currently incorporates a suite of 15 Design Guides, with 15 associated appendices. Of these 15 guides, 13 are statutory with the remaining 2 being non-statutory in nature.