Nelson City Council

August 2009

• New staff
• New fees and charges
• Consent processing timeframes
• Marsden to Brook Structure Plan
• Towards better urban design
• Heritage Project Fund, heritage tree assessments and heritage brochure
• Air plan deadlines
• Survey of plan users
• NRMP on CD ROM
• New look Council website

New staff

Peter Rawson

Peter Rawson has recently started work within the Environmental Policy division of Council. Previous to this he worked as a planner in Auckland as a consultant and within local Councils.  Peter is involved in the Nelson South proposed plan change, the Heritage Inventory Project and the implementation of actions within the Urban Design   Protocol Action Plan.

Michael Croxford

Michael Croxford started in the Resource Consents Department as a Planner at the start of the year.  He came from working as a Contracts Manager for a landscaping firm in Christchurch.  He has previously worked as Consents Officer for the West Coast Regional Council and as a project manager in the area of education policy in London.  Since joining the Council he has been involved in a wide range of land use consents and discharges to land.

Mike Durand

Mike Durand joined us in April from Tasman District Council.  He is one of the Senior Planners in the resource consents group and brings experience with processing consents for discharges to air, water and land, and also land use activities involving earthworks, erosion and sedimentation.

New fees and charges

Revised Resource Consent fees under the Resource Management Act 1991 and Environmental Policy fees became effective from 1 July 2009.  These can be accessed via the website.  Old rates still apply to applications lodged before 1 July and apply up until 1 October when the new rates will apply if the decision is not issued in that time.

Consent processing timeframes

We are pleased that our timeframes are now better than the National average for both notified and non-notified consents (see below).  We aim to keep improving to bring down the average processing days and will keep you informed of progress in future newsletters.

(Nationally 70% non-not 55% notified)

Marsden to the Brook Structure Plan

A structure plan is being carried out to consider rezoning of land from Marsden Valley to the Brook.  This work considers the opportunities and constraints of further residential development of these areas.  To date various consultants have considered issues such as land stability, landscape and storm water issues.

A draft structure plan of the area has been completed.   Landowners in the area have had the opportunity to view this draft and Council is currently consulting with them on this.   Once this has been carried out the structure plan will be revised and then released for wider public consultation prior to being notified.   Notification of the Structure Plan is likely to be carried out in two stages, with land in a portion of Marsden Valley being notified in September 2009 and the remainder of the land in Marsden Valley, Enner Glynn and upper Brook Valleys in early 2010.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about this project, please contact Reuben Peterson on 546 0295.

Towards better urban design

Residential subdivision, engineering standards and comprehensive housing

Following on from the stakeholder workshop and subsequent Steering Group Meetings, Environmental Policy staff are now drafting policy on the Residential Subdivision, Engineering Standards and Comprehensive Housing plan changes.  A draft plan change is due for release in October this year. 

The review of the NCC Engineering Standards is being undertaken concurrently with the review of the Residential Subdivision and Comprehensive Housing Sections of the Nelson Resource Management Plan (Plan).  If you have any questions or would like to know more on this policy project please contact Lisa Gibellini on 546 0375.  Stage one of the review of the Engineering Standards is to release each individual section of the draft for feedback prior to the release of the plan changes in October. The 'draft' Reserves and Landscaping section has now been added to the NCC website for review and public comment.  If you have any questions or would like to know more about this project please contact Shane Overend, on 546 0303.

Heritage

Heritage Project Fund

The annual round of Heritage Project Fund grants is now closed for 2009. Council received 32 applications seeking a total of $332,133 of funding for an available amount of $37,800 this year. While some applications did not fit the criteria there were several commendable projects that were not recommended for funding simply because of the volume and calibre of applications received. The Environment Committee requested that this amount be reviewed and if possible, increased, as part of the 2010/11 Annual Plan process.

Heritage tree condition assessments

All trees currently listed in the Nelson Resource Management Plan have been assessed by Parks Department contractors, precisely located using GPS and assigned a unique identifier number.  This new information will be assessed for discrepancies with current listings and any actions required prioritised.  It is likely a plan change will be required later this year or early next year to address any issues in the listings.

Financial assistance for heritage brochure

A brochure is now available outlining the three avenues of financial assistance available to heritage property owners (Heritage Project Fund, Remission of Rates for Heritage Maintenance, Zero Fees Resource Consents).  Pick up a copy from the Council or contact Paul Harrington on 546 0388. Financial aid information for heritage properties is also available online.

Air plan deadlines

To help meet Air Quality targets, Nelson City Council is banning the use of some old enclosed burners in the smokiest parts of town. These old burners are being phased out over 5 years, and the first phase out date is 1 January 2010.

The following enclosed burners are affected:

• Burners installed before 1996 in Bishopdale, Victory, Toi Toi, between the colleges, Washington Valley, Tahunanui, Tahunanui Hills south of The Cliffs.
• Burners installed before 1991 in Stoke, Wakatu and Enner Glynn.

These enclosed burners can't be used or replaced after the phase out date. There is financial assistance available to help with replacing them before the phase out date, please phone Jo Martin on 545 8728 to find out if your burner is affected and if you are eligible for the financial assistance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your property is affected by the phase out rules, and you want to replace your old enclosed burner with a new enclosed burner, you MUST have the building consent application in to Council before 23 December 2009.

Survey of plan change users

In late May 2009 we sent out a questionnaire to internal and external users of the Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP) on what the NRMP is like to use, and how its structure, overall format and usability could be improved. We have received 44 responses from within and outside of Council. Thank you everyone who has spent the time to fill out this questionnaire. The responses generally supported the existing overall structure and format of the Plan.

We have drawn the winner of the $100 worth of book vouchers who is Peter Thornton of Peter Thornton Consultants Engineers, congratulations Peter.

NRMP on CD ROM

This year's CD ROM version of the Nelson Resource Management Plan will also include the Nelson Air Quality Plan.  Subscribers will receive their updated copy of the CD ROM in August/September.  Anyone wishing to order a CD ROM version of the plan should contact Paul Harrington on 546 0388.  In the interests of encouraging digital subscriptions as opposed to the paper version the cost of the CD ROM is now just $15 including GST.

New Look Council Website

Council debuted its new website on 9 June 2009. The site now has an emphasis on web enabled services. The  orange/yellow-tabbed Services panel to the right lets you easily find the most commonly-used Council services.  Three tabs allow you three different search options.  The Building and Planning service information has been fully updated.

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Planning Nelson is a publication of the Nelson City Council

Nelson City Council
PO Box 645
Nelson
03 546 0200