When the council released the draft plan for public feedback last month, it opened a drop-in centre in Steward St, where people can visit to ask questions or fill in a feedback form on one of the council’s computer, and it started hosting drop-in sessions around the district.
Heritage and planning manager David Campbell said more than 250 people had visited the centre and come to drop-in sessions over the past two months.
"We’ve been pleased at the number of people who have come out to talk to us — because that means they’re wanting to find out more," Mr Campbell said.
The plan sets out the rules for the district, and is being reviewed in line with the Resource Management Act 1991.
The draft, a 1134-page document, is an informal document, and feedback will be incorporated into the proposed district plan, which the community will then be able to make formal submissions on.
It was often not until someone wanted to start a new activity or redevelop their property, or when something happened next to their property that they did not like, that they became aware of the district plan regulations and the intended outcomes — and that was the challenge for getting people to provide feedback, Mr Campbell said.
For the first two months of the council’s consultation process, the focus had been on helping people understand how the district plan rules affected them and their properties — but it was important those discussions now resulted in feedback, he said.
In Oamaru, some concern had been raised about the 12m height being recommended in the medium-density zone.
"That’s good, because we can start relooking at that — particularly on the South Hill," he said.
In the rural areas, the planning team had fielded a lot of questions about the new classifications of different areas, such as outstanding natural landscapes and wahi tupuna sites (sites of significance to iwi).
Most of the changes did not affect what farmers were doing at present, but could affect developments, Mr Campbell said.
He encouraged everyone, as a first step, to use the council’s district plan mapping tool to find out how and how the draft plan rules affected their property.
Before consultation closes on August 31, there will be drop-in sessions in Palmerston, Macraes, Otematata and at the Oamaru Farmers’ Market, and a session specifically for community groups. The drop-in centre in Steward St will also be open every Tuesday.
The district plan review was a "pretty major undertaking", Mr Campbell said.
When consultation closed, there would be a lot of work to do to collate and summarise all of the feedback and he hoped that could be presented to the new council before Christmas.
"Then we’ve got to work through what changes we might start making," he said.
Ideally, those changes would be signed off next year and by the end of 2023 the council could adopt a proposed plan for notification in early 2024, he said.
