By Anna Bensemann, Senior Planner, Baseline Group | Jun 16, 2023
When your neighbour decides to do a development next door you may be concerned how the changes might affect you enjoying your own property. This can be a greater concern if your neighbour is Kāinga Ora, the government agency responsible for social housing. It is helpful to understand what the District Plan is going to manage, and what your rights are throughout this process.
In an urban setting, District Plans manage where buildings can be located on a property, including how far from boundaries and how tall buildings can be, known as bulk and location rules. These rules are designed to ensure neighbours access to sunlight and privacy is retained to the extent provided by the zone rules. This may not meet your expectations about how big a dwelling can be next door, but they are usually the same rules across the whole zone. These rules are not designed to maintain your views across someone else’s land, as they have the same rights as everyone else to develop their land, within bulk and location limits.
There are also rules around what types of activities can occur on a site. In an urban area these will enable residential activities to occur and will provide for dwelling density limits, such as one dwelling per a specified square meter section. There are usually rules limiting the scale of commercial activities within urban areas to ensure they remain a pleasant place for people to live.
Where a development breaches a rule relating to bulk and location or density often an adjoiningneighbour is considered as a potentially affected party. The developer may approach the neighbour and seek their written approval, either as part of their own pre-lodgement consultation, or because they have lodged a consent and Council planning staff have told them their neighbour is potentially affected.
As a potentially affected party there is no requirement you sign approval if you are not happy with the development, or you may take the opportunity to negotiate a different design or layout to improve potential effects on you. If you choose not to provide approval, the developer has the option for Council to notify the application to you and you have the chance to supply a submission in opposition, indicating if you wish to have your concerns heard at a hearing.
Irrespective the developer, including government agencies, Council decision makers will look at the effects in terms of the residential use, density expectations of the district plan, and the scale of breaches of bulk and location rules to determine if the development is appropriate. If a development achieves the standards in relation to your boundary relating to bulk and location, there is a chance you may not be considered as a potentially affected neighbour. Understanding the scope of the District Plan's control helps clarify when and why you might be consulted regarding a neighbouring development.
Articles you might be interested in
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- Managing Wastewater in Rural Canterbury: A Guide for Property Owners
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- Councils are Increasing Residential Density, but why, who does it benefit?
- How to navigate Rural Land Development Under the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Soils
- With increasing density, good design matters
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- Confused by Environmental Legislation? You are Not Alone.
- What does your zone mean for you and your property?
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- Have your say on Development Projects
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- Build-to-Rent Development in New Zealand: A Rising Trend in Housing
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- The Role of Planning in Land and Property Development
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- Importance of Sediment Management in Land Development Projects: Simple Techniques for Effective Sediment Runoff Control
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- The rise or fall of rural lifestyle blocks in the Selwyn District?
- Historic Heritage Challenges for Landowners
- The Taking of Esplanades at the Time of Subdivision
- Flood Management | Changes in Selwyn
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED)
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan
- The dream of subdividing your land
- Time matters – With Resource Consent
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- The costs of subdividing hitting Selwyn | development contributions
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Going for housing growth, to improve housing affordability
- What does a professional planner do?
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- How Tree Canopies Transform Neighbourhoods and Enhance Lives
- Burning crop stubble on your property?
- New Indigenous Biodiversity Legislation Mandates Significant Natural Area Identification
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- The Great Forestry Debate
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- Land Development opportunities and times of change
- What does an activity status mean for your land development?
- Flood Management – An Update
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- The National Policy Statement for Natural Hazard Decision-Making and its effects on Resource Consents
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- How lizards might affect your new development
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- What to do when you inherit land
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- Time's up on the RMA
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- Ensuring Compliance with Resource Management Laws
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Balancing Common Sense and Legal Process under the RMA: Protecting Communities and the Environment
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- Our History - How We All Play a Part in its Protection
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- What does The Selwyn District Plan (appeals version) mean for the planning process and consent?
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Rivers, Lakes and Coastline, Public Space for All
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- Navigating New Opportunities: The Importance of Land Development Planning in 2024