The Minister for Urban Development has appointed a seven-member independent advisory panel, Te Pae, as Kaitiaki (Guardian) of the vision and objectives of the Eastern Porirua Regeneration Project. Read more about the panel here
Porirua Development Project is a partnership between the Crown, Porirua City Council, iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira and the community.
At the time of the 1 November 2018 announcement, the Crown’s interests were represented by HLC, a subsidiary of Housing New Zealand. From 1 October 2019, HLC, Housing NZ and KiwiBuild will all come under the umbrella of a new Crown entity, Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities.
A Regeneration Board is being set up to hold the vision and aspirations of the project, and to make sure the desired outcomes are delivered. It will also hold the partners accountable - more information about the Board can be found here
As well as HLC and Housing New Zealand, the following government agencies and organisations worked with Ngāti Toa and Porirua City Council on the initial scoping work required to get government approval for this project: Treasury, Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Education.
A Plan Change is a change to a District Plan, a process provided for under the Resource Management Act 1991. A plan change can be initiated by Council or by members of the public (a private plan change).
Council and the Porirua Development Project team are working together to progress a plan change “the Porirua Development Plan Change” to enable the regeneration of eastern Porirua.
The spatial extent has not yet been finalised however a indicative spatial boundary is shown here.
Porirua Development Project Proposed Plan Change is a Council initiated plan change to enable the regeneration of eastern Porirua. The plan change will include new zones and a set of objectives, policies and rules that will manage development and activities.
Porirua is growing. In the next 30 years there could be as many as 29,000 more people living in our city. Much of that growth will happen in the next 10 years, after the new motorway link road opens and housing development gets underway in eastern Porirua. We will need up to 11,000 more good quality, warm, dry, secure homes in Porirua to support the growing community. The Proposed Plan Change would allow an integrated approach to planning and development across eastern Porirua, rather than development proposals being advanced and occurring on a piecemeal site-by-site approach with individual resource consents.
Porirua Development Project plans to replace older state houses that are past their best with warm, dry homes that are better suited to tenants’ needs, as well as building affordable homes and homes for sale to the general market.
The development plans to achieve:
Porirua Development Project will look at all aspects of how neighbourhoods can be improved to make it easier for people to come together, to get around and do business.
There will be a range of different house types, sizes and styles including stand-alone and terraced houses.
The Council has been working toward a city-wide District Plan review for many years. We are in the process of engaging with residents, communities and stakeholders across the city on what we have heard from you to date, and the direction we intend to take with the proposed District Plan (which the Council intends to notify next year). Draft zones and rules have been applied across the city, including eastern Porirua. We want to hear back from the community about their views on what is being proposed through the District Plan and in their neighbourhood.
An indicative spatial extent of eastern Porirua is shown in the ePlan. This outlines the area that is being considered for a separate Streamlined Planning Process (SPP). We are still interested in hearing your views on the draft zones and rules in the draft District Plan within this area. This feedback will inform the streamlined planning process, if this is utilised.
With the plan change, a more detailed and focused conversation will happen with the eastern Porirua community around how the respective neighbourhoods may shape and change over the next 25 years. This engagement will be led in partnership with the Porirua Development team through the Spatial Delivery Strategy conversation.
If the Council uses the SPP, and the Minister agrees, the rules applicable to the District Plan in eastern Porirua will advance ahead of the District Plan. This means the zone(s) and rules in the Plan Change will be able to be used as the new blueprint for development in eastern Porirua before the District Plan is finalised across the city. Eventually, it will form part of the new District Plan.
The proposed Streamlined Planning Process (SPP) would introduce a planning framework for eastern Porirua that would provide for development ahead of what could otherwise be achieved through a standard District Plan review process. It will change the District Plan to specifically address and cater for redevelopment in eastern Porirua.
The SPP will allow development to get underway and residents of eastern Porirua will see the benefits sooner. This will help to ensure wider wellbeing outcomes of the regeneration are achieved.
It will also provide an integrated approach to planning and development across eastern Porirua, rather than development proposals being advanced and occurring on a piecemeal site-by-site approach with individual resource consents.
The use of SPP does mean the overall timeframe for the wider plan-making process is condensed. This means that appeal rights, which are available to submitters on a standard plan change process, are removed. However, the SPP will provide greater opportunity for the community to engage and have a focused conversation up-front and throughout the process. By having a more focused conversation, it will provide the community with greater ability to influence the outcome specific to eastern Porirua. The Council will ensure the up-front conversations are meaningful and members of the community can be highly engaged and assisted in that process.
Community engagement is an integral part of the process – this has started and will continue in conjunction with the Eastern Porirua Regeneration Project planning process.
This ongoing community engagement will help shape:
