Housing intensification changes for Christchurch a year away

Friday, 23 December 2022

Residents feel like they got “an early Christmas present” hearing that the council wouldn’t be strong-armed into agreeing to the Government’s housing intensity rules. Photo from a meeting on housing intensification earlier this year.

Santa has come early for the swathes of Christchurch residents against the Government’s housing intensification rules.

When the Christchurch City Council rejected the new medium density standards on housing in September, it was in breach of the law and a Government investigator was appointed.

However, the attendees of a council webinar last week heard the investigator wouldn’t force the rules onto council, but listen to council’s side of things.

That, and the news that an alternative plan won’t be adopted until the second half of 2023, was considered “an early Christmas present” to Geoff Banks, on behalf of the city’s 24 residential associations.

Efforts to increase housing density in Christchurch are drawing the ire of local residents. (First published February 9, 2021).

* 'I don’t think anyone is going to be happy ultimately': New high-density plans for Auckland released

* City planners lay the path for housing intensification in Palmerston North

The residential associations considered the Government’s rules, which received cross-party support in 2021, to be literal daylight robbery.

Housing three storeys high would be allowed across most of Christchurch under the new proposals.

It allowed for three, three storey buildings to be built on most residential sections of Christchurch without resource consent.

Exceptions could be made, but when the rules were due for adoption by Aotearoa’s largest cities in September, there were not enough to satisfy most of Christchurch’s elected members.

According to the December 14 webinar, council would now consider intensification and development restrictions on the grounds an area is, or will be, a key transport corridor.

It may also add restrictions to protect areas on the basis of heritage, or that it is a public space, such as a park. Council may also rezone some medium density areas.

On the other hand, there were also areas council considered to be high density zones. Within those zones, council may introduce minimum heights to avoid rows of single storey properties.

The intention of the rules was to address the national housing availability and affordability crisis, however critics said in Christchurch, that was not as much of an issue.

Mike Blackburn, author of the Canterbury Construction Report, told Stuff in September the market for townhouses was oversaturated.

Deputy mayor Pauline Cotter said in November that rejecting the rules wasn’t about opposing intensification, but opposing the blanket approach.

“There are some areas where allowing more housing does make sense and we’re willing to look at that,” she said.

As it stands, the amended version of the Government’s medium density residential standards won’t be put to the public until March.

The public submissions and hearing processes were estimated to take between three and four months, following which the council would vote on a final version of the plan.

It would likely come into effect in early 2024.