Way forward for Christchurch housing growth

Christchurch City Council has met its Housing Growth Target and is therefore able to withdraw part of Plan Change 14.

RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says, “Like Auckland, Christchurch argued strongly that the one-size-fits-all approach of the MDRS wasn’t the right approach. In August, Parliament passed the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes Bill), allowing Christchurch to withdraw PC14, provided the Council could prove they had provided for 30 years of sufficient feasible housing capacity, with a 20 per cent contingency margin.

Notes:

• PC14 was introduced by the Council in March 2023 to give effect to the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) and implement the medium-density residential standards (MDRS).

• The Minister’s decision-making process is set out in clause 11, Schedule 3C of the RMA: Schedule 3C Alternative intensification provisions for Auckland and Christchurch

• The Council notified PC14 in March 2023. Public submissions on the proposals were sought between March and May 2023, with an Independent Hearings Panel (IHP) holding hearings in October and November 2023, and April 2024. The IHP presented its decisions to the Council on 29 July 2024.

• The Council completed the parts of PC 14 that implemented the NPS-UD on 2 December 2024.