Notice of the Ordinary meeting of
Nelson City Council
Te Kaunihera o Whakatū
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Date: Thursday
7 December 2023
Time: 9.00a.m.
Location: Council
Chamber
Floor 2A, Civic House
110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
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Supplementary Agenda
Rārangi take
Chairperson His
Worship the Mayor Nick Smith
Deputy
Mayor Cr
Rohan O'Neill-Stevens
Members Cr
Matty Anderson
Cr
Matthew Benge
Cr
Trudie Brand
Cr
Mel Courtney
Cr
James Hodgson
Cr
Kahu Paki Paki
Cr
Pete Rainey
Cr
Campbell Rollo
Cr
Rachel Sanson
Cr
Tim Skinner
Cr
Aaron Stallard
Quorum 7 Nigel
Philpott
Chief Executive
Nelson City Council Disclaimer
Please note that the contents of these
Council and Committee agendas have yet to be considered by Council and officer
recommendations may be altered or changed by the Council in the process of
making the formal Council decision. For enquiries call (03) 5460436.
Item 5: Mayor's Report
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Council
7 December 2023
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Report
Title: Mayor's
Report
Report
Author: Hon Dr Nick
Smith - Mayor
Report
Authoriser:
Report
Number: R28203
1. Purpose
of Report
To consider accepting submissions
that Nelson City Council has received on notified Plan Change 29 (PC 29) after
the close of the submission period (4pm on Tuesday, 31 October 2023).
2. Recommendation
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That
the Council
1. Receives the report Mayor's
Report (R28203); and
2. Agrees all late submissions on
Plan Change 29 received up to the date of this report (7 December 2023) be
accepted and included in the summary of submissions.
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3. Background
3.1 Plan Change 29 was
publicly notified on 11 August 2023 to introduce more flexibility around
housing policies and rules. The proposed changes to parts of the Nelson
Resource Management Plan (NRMP) were made in response to population growth and
demand for housing in the region, and to fulfil Council’s obligations
under the previous Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban
Development.
3.2 PC29 sparked a high
level of public interest. When it was notified, PC29 had a closing date for
submissions of 19 September 2023. Due to the high level of interest including a
public meeting, Council agreed to extend the submission period to 4pm on
Tuesday, 31 October 2023.
3.3 The new Coalition
Government has announced changes will be made to the National Policy Statement on
Urban Development with its 100-day plan saying it will make the Medium Density
Residential Standards optional for councils. However, this has no effect on
PC29 as the existing mandatory provisions for these apply to tier 1 councils
only. Nelson is a tier 2 council. There is no indication of any change in the
requirement that we make provision for 30 years of growth.
3.4 A Hearing Panel of
Greg Hill (Chair), Deputy Mayor Rohan O'Neill-Stevens and Councillor Trudie
Brand has been delegated the authority by Council to make a recommendation on
PC29.
3.5 As part of this
consideration the Hearing Panel shall take into account the following:
3.5.1 The
Council’s duties under Section 37A of the Resource Management Act 1991;
3.5.2 The
principles of natural justice; and
3.5.3 Any
views expressed on the matter by the applicant, the submitters (including those
that are late and recommended to be accepted), any other affected party, and
the Council’s Reporting Officer(s).
4. Discussion
4.1 Council received 864
submissions on PC29 by the extended closing date of 4pm on Tuesday, 31 October
2023. By comparison, the Future Development Strategy 2022 received 558
submissions and Private Plan Change 28 (the proposed Maitahi Bayview
development) received 715 submissions.
4.2 Another 16 submissions
on PC29 were received after the closing deadline of 31 October 2023. Of the 16
late submissions, 11 were received after 4pm on 31 October 2023. The remaining
five were received between 1 and 7 November 2023.
4.3 I welcome this record
number of submissions. It reflects the lively debate in Nelson on these
significant changes and how much people care about the future shape of our
city. Council extended the closing date for submissions, organised
neighbourhood meetings and provided a Friend of Submitters to encourage as much
community input as possible.
4.4 There is no prejudice
to any person directly affected by the Hearing Panel by accepting the late
submissions as the further submission period has not yet started, there is
still an opportunity for affected landowners to lodge a further submission in
support or opposition to any of the late submissions.
4.5 Everyone has or will
have the opportunity to view the late submissions and make a further submission
(provided they meet the requirements in Clause 8(1) of Schedule 1 of the RMA).
4.6 The late submissions
raise matters that are within the scope of PC29. It is appropriate that those
matters be tested through the Schedule 1 process along with all other matters
raised in these submissions. The further submission period will allow adequate
opportunity for the community to formally express its views on the issues
raised in each of those submissions.
5. Options
5.1 Council could agree
to:
5.1.1 Accept the recommendation to accept
the late submissions; or
5.1.2 Partially accept the recommendation,
by accepting some of the late submissions only; or
Reject the
recommendation and not accept the late submissions.
Attachments
Nil
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Important considerations for decision making
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Fit with Purpose of Local Government
The purpose of local government is to enable
decision-making on behalf of communities. Council has notified a significant Nelson
Resource Management Plan Change (29) that has the potential to affect the
future development of the city. This decision is about whether to receive the
small number of late submissions on the proposed change to the Nelson
Resource Management Plan.
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Consistency with Community Outcomes
and Council Policy
This decision aligns with the outcome that our
urban environments are well planned and sustainably managed and that the
Council fosters community engagement. Council’s notified Plan Change is
a significant Council planning policy and this report addresses the
Council’s willingness, or not, to accept submissions on this proposed Plan
Change that were received after the closing date for submissions.
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Risk
There is no prejudice to any person directly
affected by the Hearing Panel by accepting the late submissions as the
further submission period has not yet started, there is still an opportunity
for affected landowners to lodge a further submission in support or
opposition to any of the late submissions.
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Financial impact
There is no financial impact on Council from
deciding whether to accept the late submissions on Plan Change 29.
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Degree of significance and level of
engagement
This decision is of low significance given no new
issues were raised in the late submissions. A decision to accept late
submissions nevertheless sends an important signal that Council wants to hear
from as many submitters as possible in order to ensure that the matters
raised even by late submitters be included in the summary of submissions
report, and that even late submitters can be part of the process going
forward.
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Climate Impact
There is no effect on climate
change from deciding whether to accept the late submissions on Plan Change
29.
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Inclusion of Māori in the
decision making process
No engagement with Māori has been undertaken
in preparing this report.
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Legal
context
· Council has
delegated powers to address process issues such as the acceptance of late
submissions to the Hearing Panel on the notified Plan Change, but it is
considered that this issue is of sufficient public interest that it is
appropriate for the Council to make the decision on the acceptance of late
submissions. Once the summary of submissions has been finalised, any
submitter can lodge a further submission in support or opposition to the submissions,
including late submissions.
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Delegations
This is a matter for Council to consider.
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