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
- Build-to-Rent Development in New Zealand: A Rising Trend in Housing
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- The dream of subdividing your land
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- Confused by Environmental Legislation? You are Not Alone.
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- What to do when you inherit land
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- Flood Management – An Update
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- The rise or fall of rural lifestyle blocks in the Selwyn District?
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- Tiny Homes and Granny Flats
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- Cross Lease Titles
- Rivers, Lakes and Coastline, Public Space for All
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- Going for housing growth, to improve housing affordability
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- Adapting to a Depreciating New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
- Managing Waterbodies on Your Property: What Landowners Need to Know
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- Flood Management | Changes in Selwyn
- New Indigenous Biodiversity Legislation Mandates Significant Natural Area Identification
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- The costs of subdividing hitting Selwyn | development contributions
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- With increasing density, good design matters
- Historic Heritage Challenges for Landowners
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Understanding Zoning and Density Rules in Selwyn
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- The National Policy Statement for Natural Hazard Decision-Making and its effects on Resource Consents
- Time's up on the RMA
- The Great Forestry Debate
- Importance of Sediment Management in Land Development Projects: Simple Techniques for Effective Sediment Runoff Control
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- Understanding Land Covenants: What You Need to Know
- Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED)
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan
- Submissions to a Resource Consent by Affected Parties
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- Balancing Common Sense and Legal Process under the RMA: Protecting Communities and the Environment
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- The Role of Planning in Land and Property Development
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Back to Basics for the RMA Reforms
- What does The Selwyn District Plan (appeals version) mean for the planning process and consent?
- What does your zone mean for you and your property?
- How Tree Canopies Transform Neighbourhoods and Enhance Lives
- Burning crop stubble on your property?
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- How to navigate Rural Land Development Under the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Soils
- Granny Flats to Be Allowed, Without Consent: What Homeowners Need to Know
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- Managing Wastewater in Rural Canterbury: A Guide for Property Owners
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- How lizards might affect your new development
- Navigating Prior Engineering Acceptance for Urban Developments in Selwyn
- Ensuring Compliance with Resource Management Laws
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- What does a professional planner do?
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- Councils are Increasing Residential Density, but why, who does it benefit?
- Time matters – With Resource Consent
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- Subdividing – The Basics
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- A New Dawn for Granny Flats and Accessory Dwellings
- What does an activity status mean for your land development?
- The Taking of Esplanades at the Time of Subdivision
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- Have your say on Development Projects
- Is planning the cause of red tape for land development?
- Our History - How We All Play a Part in its Protection
- Navigating New Opportunities: The Importance of Land Development Planning in 2024
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Land Development opportunities and times of change
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?