14 June 2019

Council re-issues a call for Further Submissions on Stage 1 of its Proposed District Plan

Waikato District Council will next week re-issue a call for ‘further submissions’ on nearly 1,000 submissions that it received following notification of the Proposed Waikato District Plan (Stage 1) in July last year and has set a new closing date of 16 July 2019.

Last month Council announced it was extending the original deadline when it discovered errors and omissions in the Summary of Submissions published for its community to consider in order to make a ‘further submission’.

Waikato District Council Chief Executive Gavin Ion says, “We want to ensure the fairest process possible so we have allowed another full month to give anyone interested plenty of time to check the changes in our Summary before they make a further submission.”

“As part of the review process we contacted all our original submitters and we have been rigorous in accepting all appropriate changes to the Summary.”

Five submissions omitted from the Summary have now been added, and minor corrections have been made to the summaries of about 50 of the nearly 1,000 original submissions received.

The five new additions are summaries of submissions from Mark Fendall, Waikato Tainui, KiwiRail, Turangawaewae Trust Board and Koch Farms Limited.

All new and corrected summaries have been published in a new addendum to the Council’s Summary of Submissions and are clearly identified online and in the print versions of the Summary available in all Council offices and libraries from Tuesday 18 June 2019.

Gavin Ion says, “The District Plan is an important document that tells the community how the district’s land can be used, developed and subdivided. It also serves to protect sites identified as significant to our cultural heritage and to our environment.”

A further submission is a written statement that allows you to support or oppose other people’s submissions. It gives you the opportunity to comment on how a submission may impact you, and to have your views considered by the Hearings Panel along with the original submission. You do not need to have made an original submission to make a further submission.

Stage 1 of the Proposed District Plan includes all topics and provisions except those related to natural hazards and climate change, which form part of Stage 2. A draft of Stage 2 is expected to be released later this year.

Council encourages anyone making a further submission to do it online, but hard copies of the submission forms are also available from all Council offices and libraries, or you can phone 0800 492 452 to request one.

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