Housing for Everyone - ​Plan Change 9

The plan change enables greater housing choice in Rotorua by amending restrictive rules that created barriers for housing developments. This is an important part of addressing our housing shortage because it enables more houses to be built in areas that have access to jobs, public transport, amenities and other community facilities.

When more people live in an area, we can invest more efficiently in those things that enhance a community such as parks and open spaces, streets, schools and health services. This is critical to creating thriving communities.

A plan change is the process for amending the Rotorua District Plan. This includes changes to the rules and the zones. This is a public process where people have the opportunity to make submissions and have their say on the changes.

There is a significant lack of housing in Rotorua, which is contributing to a housing crisis. The Government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 gave councils around New Zealand a directive to prepare and process a special type of Plan Change known as an Intensification Planning Instrument by August 2022. The intention of the direction is to increase housing supply in urban areas and ensure local authorities are preparing sufficiently for growth.

Additionally, on 14 March 2022 an Order in Council (OIC) from the government directing Rotorua Lakes Council to incorporate the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) as per the requirements of the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021. Plan Change 9 gives effect to the MDRS.

It is a change to legislation which introduced new rules (replacing some previous District Plan rules) in order to encourage greater residential development and housing choices for communities that are experiencing an acute housing need. The Act requires all relevant Councils to incorporate the new Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) into every relevant residential zone in their District Plan by 20 August 2022. Councils were also directed to use the Intensification Streamlined Planning Process (ISPP) for the formal statutory Plan Change process which enables Councils to implement intensification faster.