The Unitary Plan - Look At What You Can Do Now!

I took a gander at the Unitary Plan the other day. Some of it you may know. Some you may not. Did you know, for instance, that in a single house zone (land area: 600m2), you can subdivide the existing footprint of your house into two dwellings? Or that you can apply to use your land for panel-beating and motor mechanic shops?

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Wondering where you stand with your property? You have come to the right place. Because all the hard work has been done for you. This 'one-stop', 'easy-to-use', information pack gives you the opportunity to identify on a map - not only your zone under the proposed Unitary Plan - but also the future zones for your general neighbourhood. It also shows what you can do with your land - and what other property owners can do with their land - when the proposed Unitary Plan comes into effect.

It is easy to do; just match the colours on the map with a legend, and presto, you have all the information at your fingertips to make use of the activity table below.

So lets get started. In minute I am going to give you a link to open a map in a new window. When the new window (map) opens, click on the button at the bottom of the page for access to the interactive map. You can then type your address into the black search window on the right hand side of the screen. After you do that, push the 'Enter' button on your keyboard. The screen will then enlarge and your property will be the one with the pin on it (if the pin cannot be seen, move the two small black windows to one side).

Take note of the colour of your property (land/section) on the map, and match it to one of the colours in the legend immediately below. This allows you to identify your future zone - and your rights to develop your property - under the proposed Unitary Plan.

The interactive unitary plan map can be found by clicking here...

This is the legend to use with the map

Now, this is the interesting bit: once you know your proposed zone, you can look at the Activity Table below to see what you and your neighbours can do with your property in the future. An explanation of the abbreviations (P, D, RD, NC) in the table, can be found at the bottom of the page.
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This is the Activity Table
KEY
P = Permitted
D = Discretionary
NC = Non-Complying
RD = Restricted Descretionary

(Explanation about the above key can be found at the end of this article)

.	Activity	Large Lot zone	Single House zone	Mixed Housing Suburban zone	Mixed Housing Urban zone	Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings zone
.	Residential
.	Camping grounds	NC	NC	NC	NC	NC
.	Dwellings	P	P	P (up to 3 dwellings per site)	P (up to 3 dwellings per site)	P (one dwelling per site)
.				RD (4 or more dwellings per site)	RD (4 or more dwellings per site)	D (2 to 4 dwellings per site)
.						RD (5 or more dwellings per site)
.	Home occupations	P	P	P	P	P
.	Retirement villages	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Supported residential care and boarding houses up to 200m² GFA per site	NC	P	P	P	P
.	Supported residential care and boarding houses not provided for above	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Visitor accommodation up to 200m² GFA per site	NC	RD	RD	RD	RD
.	Visitor accommodation not provided for above	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Commerce
.	Dairies up to 100m2 GFA per site	NC	D	RD	RD	RD
.	Restaurants and cafes up to 100m² GFA per site	NC	NC	NC	D	RD
.	Service stations on arterial roads	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Community
.	Care centres up to 200m² GFA per site	P	P	P	P	P
.	Care centres between 200m² - 400m² GFA per site	NC	RD	RD	RD	RD
.	Care centres not provided for above	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Community facilities	D	D	D	D	D
.	Education facilities	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Emergency services on arterial road	NC	D	D	D	D
.	Healthcare facilities up to 200m² GFA per site	NC	RD	RD	RD	RD
.	Healthcare facilities and associated buildings not provided for above	NC	NC	D	D	D
.	Rural
.	Grazing of livestock on sites greater than 2,000m2 net site area	P	NC	NC	NC	NC
.	Mana Whenua
.	Marae complex	D	D	D	D	D
.	Development
.	Alterations and additions to a single dwelling on a site	P	P	P	P	P
.	Alterations and additions to two or more dwellings on a site	P	P	P	P	RD
.	Demolition of buildings	P	P	P	P	P
.	The conversion of a dwelling into a maximum of two dwellings complying with the land use controls in clause 3.3 below	RD	P	P	P	D
.	Buildings accessory to the permitted and restricted discretionary non-residential activities listed above	RD	RD	RD	RD	RD
.	Buildings accessory to all other activities listed in this table have the same activity status as the activity itself.

The following explanation about the abbreviations used in the above table comes from the Auckland Council.

The Resource Management Act (RMA) classifies activities into the following types:

Permitted activities (P)
Resource consent is not required for a permitted activity if it complies with all the relevant rules in the Unitary Plan. The Unitary Plan uses this approach to provide for activities to be carried out as of right, provided certain controls are met. If an activity does not comply with one or more of the relevant controls it is not a permitted activity.

Restricted discretionary activities (RD)
Resource consent is required for a restricted discretionary activity. Council may approve or decline a proposal for a restricted discretionary activity. The Unitary Plan specifies the matters over which council has restricted its discretion. Council's consideration of the proposal, and the ability to refuse the application and impose conditions, is restricted to these matters.

Discretionary activities (D)
Resource consent is required for a discretionary activity. Council may approve or decline a proposal for a discretionary activity. In assessing the proposed activity, council can consider all relevant objectives and policies within the Unitary Plan, all potential environmental effects, and any matters outlined in s. 104 of the RMA without limitation in decision-making.

Non-complying activities (NC)
Resource consent is required for a non-complying activity. Council may grant or refuse the application. There are extra tests under the RMA, which council must consider when assessing a non-complying activity.
There are two types of non-complying activities in the Unitary Plan:

• listed activities that are specifically identified as non-complying
• activities which default to non-complying status because they are not specifically provided for as permitted, controlled, restricted discretionary or discretionary.

Rule: Any activity not specifically identified in the Unitary Plan as permitted, controlled, restricted discretionary, discretionary or prohibited is a non-complying activity.

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