The Government’s social housing agency, Kāinga Ora, has asked Porirua City Council to change PCC’s proposed District Plan to allow for buildings at least six-stories high in several areas in Porirua, including part of Pukerua Bay.

This comes from the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), which is a policy that councils have to incorporate into their plans and allow to operate — they have no choice about this. In the words of the policy statement, ‘Councils must give effect to these objectives and policies.’ There is a one-page summary here.

It’s an attempt to improve how cities respond to growth to enable improved housing affordability and community wellbeing.

Some of the provisions in it apply to the areas under the most pressure — the Tier 1 councils. Wellington region is one of these.

The relevant part to the NPS-UD is Policy 3, which says that for tier 1 local authorities, maximum capacity must be enabled in city centre zones. They must also enable development of at least six storeys in metropolitan centre zones and within walkable distances of rapid transit stops, and the edge of city centre and metropolitan zones. In these locations, six storeys are not a target, but is a minimum for what must be enabled in plans. If assessments show that both demand and access are high in these areas, councils should enable heights and densities that reflect this.

There is a fact sheet on intensification here.

The government has provided advice to councils with high- or medium-growth urban areas on how to meet the requirements in the NPS-UD.

Kāinga Ora’s proposal

Kāinga Ora has proposed that these 6-storey minimum buildings be allowed in six areas in Porirua. (Their full submission is here — number 81 in the list.)

Kāinga Ora maps of high-density zones — Pukerua Bay is the first map in the document, and the high-density zone is the orange and white striped area centred around the train station. There is also an online map you can enter your address into to find the nearest high-density zones.

This appears to be a standard submission Kāinga Ora is making around the country to include this form of intensification in councils’ District Plans and is not specifically targeted at Porirua. The areas seem to be simply drawn around train stations and certain urban facilities, such as shopping centres, without any analysis of whether they are suitable. Or, in the case of Pukerua Bay, whether our train station counts as a ‘rapid transit stop’ and whether ‘both demand and access are high’ for intensive development in this area.

The proposal would allow for very little input at the resource consent stage by affected neighbours.

Further submissions

We are allowed to make further submissions in response to ones like Kāinga Ora’s submissions – even if we didn’t make a submission initially.

The further submission can only respond to initial submissions and can’t bring up new matters. They must say what you agree with or disagree with and why.

Deadline for further submissions

These must be with PCC by 11 May.

There are links on this page to the ways you can make further submissions by filling out this Word document form.

Need a hand?

The summary reports are complex and PCC is able to help you understand them.

You can make an appointment to talk to a member of PCC’s planning team. Please email or call: dpreview@pcc.govt.nz ph 04 237 5089

If you would like help making a further submission, an independent ‘Friend of the Submitter’ service is available. Please email or call FriendofSubmittersPDP@poriruacity.govt.nz ph 021 532 284