Te Tūtohunga Panonitanga 5: Tūnga Waka Whai Huarahi
In 2020, the Government required all councils to remove minimum parking requirements from their District Plans (National Policy Statement - Urban Development 2020: Section 3.38). These provisions were removed from the Whakatāne District Plan (District Plan) in December 2021. This meant the District Plan no longer contained a requirement for accessible parking, but instead relied on New Zealand Standards (NZS 4121: 2001) which sets the number of accessible car parks as a ratio of the total number of car parks provided. With the removal of minimum car parking requirements, if a developer chose not to provide any car parks, Council could not require the provision of an accessible car park, even when appropriate, like an activity that requires accessible parking under the Building Act.
This meant that changes needed to be made to the District Plan to ensure resource consents could still require accessible parking to be provided when appropriate.
Proposed Plan Change 5: Accessible Parking
Te Tūtohunga Panonitanga 5: Tūnga Waka Whai Huarahi
- Identifies where accessible parking must be provided and sets an absolute minimum number of accessible car parks in those situations. The minimum number complies with the requirements in NZS 4121:2001.
- Comprises 18 minor changes to the District Plan that will enable the Council to consider during the consenting process whether the provision of accessible parking would be appropriate.
If Plan Change 5 is not implemented, decisions around providing accessible car parking will be made by developers and the Council will have no input into the consenting process.
This may result in developers choosing whether or not to provide accessible parking and how many car parks they provide.
Without implementing the proposed Plan Change 5, access and mobility would be limited for some members of the community. This could prevent them from accessing some businesses and services.
Not to implement Plan Change 5 is considered contrary to the Council's aim to deliver the best possible social and economic outcomes for the community.
History
Proposed Plan Change 5 was initially notified in May 2022 and 1 submission was received. However, in order to ensure that notification requirements were fully met, Plan Change 5 was renotified in May 2023. The initial submission was carried over and 4 new submissions were received. Further submissions were able to be made in September 2023 and 0 were received.
Four of the submissions were in full support and 1 submission requested amendments. These requests were worked through with the submitter. The submitter and Council planners worked out agreed solutions and with these accepted, no longer wished to be heard at hearing.
The Hearings Panel met on the 27 November 2024 to review the submissions, planner recommendation and make decisions.
What now - decisions and appeals
The Hearings Panel issued their decision on 27 January 2025 and appeals are now able to be made to the Environment Court. Please note due to public holidays the appeals period will be extended by 2 days to March 12, 2025.
Please see the public notice below for full details and instructions on appeals.
After the close of the appeal process, the Council will determine a date to make the plan change Operative for all provisions not under appeal. Provisions under appeal will be made Operative once the Environment Court has ruled on them, and with any amendments required by the Court.
Documents
- Summary of Submissions - (PDF, 326 KB)
- Proposed Plan Change 5: Accessible Parking - Section 32 Report - (PDF, 811 KB)
- Document
- Document
- Document
- DocumentPlanners Recommendation (s42A) Report - (499.91 KB)
- Document
Submissions:
- Submission - Caroline van Leeuwen - (PDF, 90 KB)
- Submission - Disabilities Resource Centre - (PDF, 320 KB)
- Submission - Gina Seay - (PDF, 85 KB)
- Submission - Naomi Freedman - (PDF, 100 KB)
- Submission - Ross Gardiner - (PDF, 436 KB)
- Submission - WAI - (PDF, 245 KB)
Decision documents: