Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, has today released his decisions on 17 recommendations referred to him by Christchurch City Council on its Intensification Planning Instrument (Plan Change 14).
“In December 2024, the Council accepted the majority of the Independent Hearings Panel’s (IHP) recommendations on those parts of Plan Change 14 subject to Policies 3 and 4 of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD),” said Minister Bishop.
“These recommendations were incorporated into its district plan.”
The Council rejected 20 of the IHP’s recommendations and referred them, along with its own alternative recommendations, to the Minister for a final decision.
“I have carefully considered this matter and taken extensive advice from officials. The law requires that I only consider matters that the IHP could have taken into account when making its recommendations.”
“I have made decisions on 17 of the 20 recommendations referred to me by the Council, which relate to a range of issues including qualifying matters, zoning and built form standards.
“Together, these decisions will enable a greater level of development in and around Christchurch City’s urban centres as required by Policies 3 and 4 of the NPS-UD,” he said.
The Minister has not made decisions on three recommendations relating to Daresbury House, Antonio Hall and the Piko Residential Character Area.
“I intend to consider these recommendations once the Council has decided on the zoning of these areas. The Council may refer these decisions to me again ahead of deciding on the balance of Plan Change 14,” he said.
“I thank the Councillors, the Independent Hearings Panel and Council staff for the work undertaken on the Intensification Streamlined Planning Process so far.”
The Minister rejected the Council’s recommendation which sought to apply a special city-wide restriction to developments, to provide greater sunlight access than is currently allowed for in Christchurch under the national Medium-Density Residential Standards (MDRS).
Christchurch Mayor, Phil Mauger says the Minister’s response was incredibly disappointing for the city.
“In putting these decisions forward to the Government, we obviously wanted to get all of our alternative recommendations approved. So, to only have three of them get the tick is a kick in the guts,” the Mayor said.
“This plan change has been a huge undertaking for our city, and we’ve said right the way through that we want to get the best outcome we possibly can. This doesn’t feel like the best outcome.
“To that end, we’ll keep working hard as a council, and there are still major decisions yet to be made when it comes to housing density and planning across much of Christchurch, so watch this space.”
Minister Bishop’s decisions, made under Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991, are final and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court.
Policies 3 and 4 of the NPS-UD are set out on page 11 of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020.
The Minister’s decision making process is set out in Section 105, Schedule 1 of the RMA: Resource Management Act 1991 No 69 (as at 05 April 2025), Public Act 105 Minister must decide on rejected and alternative recommendations – New Zealand Legislation.
View the Decesion Table on Christchurch intensification plan.pdf.
