Minister says ‘no’ to extra time for housing density decisions

Wednesday, 14 May 2025

The Christchurch City Council has until December 12 to decide on the remaining parts of its housing intensification plan, after Chris Bishop turned down a request for an extension.

Reform Minister Chris Bishop has turned down a request by the Christchurch City Council to delay the remaining parts of the city’s housing intensification plan until September next year.

In a letter to mayor Phil Mauger, Bishop said the council has until December 12 to make remaining decisions about applying greater housing density rules across much of the city.

“I consider there should be sufficient time for the council to consider its position and prepare to proceed (regardless of the outcome in the Bill) after the select committee’s report back and still meet the December 12 deadline.”

Minister of RMA Reform Chris Bishop has told the Christchurch City Council time’s up for its housing density plan.

As a continuation of Plan Change 14, the city council must decide if and where it applied Medium-Density Residential Standards (MDRS) - a government-initiated policy to make it easier to build up to three, three-storey homes per section.

The council had sought an extension until September 30, 2026, in light of the Government’s proposed Bill to modify the Resource Management Act (RMA), which would allow councils to withdraw undecided parts of intensification planning instruments such as Plan Change 14. The Bill is expected to become law in August.

Mauger said the minister’s reply to the council was disappointing.

“An extension from the minister would’ve meant more time to weigh up whether we want to opt out of further housing intensification and, if so, to go through the proper steps to decide as a council and to apply for that with the Government.

“As it stands now, our ability to do that by December is up in the air, and we’ll need to await further information from the Government’s Select Committee on the Bill next month to figure out if we can still make an informed decision in time about whether or not to proceed with parts of Plan Change 14.”

A staff report prepared for councillors last month said the council would not be able to evaluate its options until the modified RMA came into effect. Once in effect, the process to consider options, meet any evaluative requirements and seek the approval of the minister was certain to push beyond the current December 12 deadline, it said.

Mayor Phil Mauger is disappointed the council’s request for an extension on its housing density plan has been turned down.

To date, the council has made decisions on Plan Change 14 that relate to policies 3 and 4 of the Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), which require greater building development within and around the central city, suburban commercial centres, and planned high-frequency and high-capacity public transport routes.

In March last year, the minister approved the council’s request for a time extension to parts of Plan Change 14, specifically those that relate to the Government’s MDRS being applied beyond areas defined in the NPS-UD.

This meant the council was yet to decide on housing intensification for the remainder of the city.

MDRS was proposed to apply across all urban Christchurch, but the opt-out process proposed by the Government may allow the Council to limit where it applies.

Under MDRS, up to three dwellings of up to three storeys can be developed on a property without needing to apply for a resource consent if all other rules have been met.