Site Use
Considering how a building and site impact on each other, enhancing energy efficiency, comfort and convenience.
District Plan Requirements
Each city or district council in New Zealand has its own regulations, set out in a District Plan, which all site usage and site development must comply with.
In all district plans, the city or district is divided into zones, for example inner residential, outer residential, commercial, suburban, industrial, and so on. Based on actual or potential adverse effects of activities, each zone defines activities as:
- Permitted – which means the activity may be undertaken as of right and will not require a resource consent
- Controlled – which means the activity will be granted a consent, but may be subject to conditions relating specifically to the controlled activities for the zone
- Discretionary – which means that a resource consent is required. These fall into two categories, restricted and unrestricted. Restricted activities may have conditions imposed, if a consent is granted, in relation to a specific issue or issues defined in the district plan. Unrestricted activities are those that fall outside the permitted, controlled or restricted categories. For these a council can impose conditions to deal with any adverse effects.
- Non-complying – which means a consent may only be issued with conditions, and then only if the council is satisfied that the consent will be consistent with the policies and objectives of the district plan.
District plans set out the rules for permitted distances from boundaries, overall height and form requirements for buildings, sunlight access or height recession planes, and site coverage. Ensure that the requirements of the district plan applying to the site under consideration are fully understood at the preliminary design stage.
Height restrictions generally exclude antennas, aerials, chimneys, a portion of a gable, and architectural features such as finials.
- Height restrictions on gable ends
Gable ends may usually penetrate the height recession plane by 1/3 of the gable end height.
Limiting your design options to the permitted activities may compromise a building design. If this is the case, the first step should be to consult neighbours to obtain agreement in principle for the proposal.
If neighbours’ agreement is not forthcoming, it may be worth revising the design or lodging a resource consent application – the consent may still be granted without neighbours’ agreement. Even if agreement is given in principle from all neighbours, a resource consent application must still be made for controlled, discretionary and non-complying activities.
For more information, see the Ministry for the Environment's resource management publications.
For your clients
To help your clients understand district plan and resource consent requirements, refer them to: www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/site/section-district-plans.php or www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/resource-and-building-consent-process/