Whakatāne District Council has approved the Proposed Whakatāne District Plan at its Extraordinary Council meeting on 30 May 2013. The reviewed District Plan, which sets out the way land can be used, subdivided and developed in the District, will be available to the community for submissions from 28 June 2013.
Whakatāne District Mayor Tony Bonne says the key goal of the Plan is to enable use and development while protecting the places we value. “It aims to promote growth by providing for new residential and business development and maintain a strong rural base by ensuring that our best soils are kept for rural production,” he says. “An important part of growth is ensuring that Whakatāne remains a great place to live, work and play – and the Plan contributes to that goal by helping to create liveable spaces and protecting special places.”
The Proposed Whakatāne District Plan has six key themes which acknowledge the opportunities that our natural and physical resources provide: growing our District; opportunities for businesses; a strong rural base; safe and resilient communities; creating liveable spaces; and our special places.
The Council began its review of the Plan by considering whether the objectives, policies and rules in the Operative District Plan were up-to-date and whether there were any new issues which needed to be addressed. Throughout the process, a range of expert and community input has been sought through a comprehensive consultation process.
Council General Manager Strategy and Planning, David Bewley says the outcomes of the review mean that some parts of the District Plan will remain unchanged; while other parts have been updated. “The Plan has the potential to affect the way people can use and develop their properties in our District, so it’s paramount that we get it right.”
“The Council commissioned an independent economic review of the draft Proposed Plan, to identify areas where the Proposed Plan could be strengthened to support economic growth. The economic review identified enabling elements of the Plan, along with those which could be changed to foster investment in the District,” he says. “As a result, staff made recommendations for changes which have been incorporated into the Proposed Plan.”
Once the Plan is publicly notified on 28 June 2013, copies of a summary of the Proposed Whakatāne District Plan will be distributed to most residents via the Bay Weekend. The summary will also be delivered to all Post Office boxes and via Rural Delivery routes or house-to-house distributions in the southern part of the District. The community will have until 13 September 2013 to lodge submissions supporting or opposing any aspect of the Proposed Whakatāne District Plan.