Queenstown Lakes District Councillors will be asked to consider the proposed changes for the third stage in the District Plan review at an extraordinary meeting next Monday.

The topics included in Stage 3 of the review include: General Industrial Zone; Rural Visitor Zone; Townships (Settlement Zone); Three Parks; Wāhi Tūpuna (Sites of Significance to Iwi); and Design Guidelines for Residential Zones and the Business Mixed Use Zone.

If adopted, Stage 3 will be formally notified on Thursday 12 September 2019, followed by a two month submission period ending on Monday 11 November 2019.

The formal notification will be via local papers, letters, radio, and online. Information will also be made available on the QLDC website covering each proposal in detail, along with links to maps for people to hone in on their property if needed.

“Setting rules for what you can do with your property affects all ratepayers, so we encourage everyone to take an active interest, get informed on the changes being proposed and make a submission,” said QLDC Planning Policy Manager Ian Bayliss.

“For those new to this process, a district plan guides land use and development. We’re required to review it every ten years to ensure the rules remain effective for our evolving community and continue to protect what makes our district so special.”

“The review of the District Plan is staggered to enable progress to be made on the parts of the plan that needed review and that people use most often. As most of the District Plan was covered off in Stages 1 and 2, this Stage is a mix of elements which either have not been reviewed yet or need to be updated,” he said.

The decisions for Stages 1 and 2 of the District Plan review were released in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and some of these decisions are currently under appeal at the Environment Court.

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