Share November 2015
Kia Ora
During November the Planning Team will be out and about in a place near you (Saturday market and various events) to garner public interest in the Nelson Plan. Please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to come and talk to us about what they see as the big planning issues for Nelson.
Nelson Nature, a Council supported biodiversity programme, has kicked into gear. We want to see nature being brought back into Nelson.
Our focus in the regulatory area (building and resource consents) has been on improved customer service. If you have any ideas of what we could do differently please contact me clare.barton@ncc.govt.nz
Clare Barton
Group Manager Strategy and Environment
Building
Contact details:
Manager Building: martin.brown@ncc.govt.nz ph 5460302
What’s new from the Nelson Building Consent Authority (BCA)
Requests for Information Responses (RFIs) for residential building consents
As of 1 October the BCA is asking agents and customers to meet with our staff when providing responses to the Requests for Information (RFI) on residential building consents.
This short meeting provides the opportunity to discuss the response and what has been included, and (if accepted) gives certainty the RFI will not be rejected a day or so later. Please note you might get a further RFI if there are technical issues found on a fuller review of your consent application.
Building Warrant of Fitness Audits (BWOF)
Our new compliance officer will be getting in touch shortly to plan BWoF audits. The initial focus for these audits will be the bigger portfolio holders and commercial buildings. It is likely a fee will be recovered for this service.
2015 – 2016 Fees and Charges for Building Unit services
New fees and charges for the Building Unit came in to effect on 1 October 2015. Administrative changes have included making the fees and charges document clearer and easier to follow, and making the website more relevant.
Other improvements were:
- Changing the higher estimated value (from negotiated to time charge
- Multiple buildings on single consent (residential and commercial)
- A new ‘up to $50K’ band for new residential
- The fee for ‘residential adaptation’ consents in the range of $10,001 to $20,000 has increased, as it was found the fee was not covering the inspections element for these consents.
http://nelson.govt.nz/building-and-property/building-consents-2/building-consent-fees
Consents over 4 years old with no code compliance certificate
A new link has been created in the ‘Building Consents’ area on the Council website which explains what to do where a building that has consent is over four years old and has no code compliance certificate. This should help people who are selling their properties.
Follow this link for more information: Building Consents over 4 years old with no Code Compliance Certificate
Feedback to designers on Drainage levels on flat sites (Residential predominantly)
Inspectors have reported a growing occurrence of things getting ‘quite tight’ around falls from sites to mains drainage. Designers must ensure they have undertaken a good assessment of outfall drains to ensure they can get code-required falls on drainage systems. This is the designer’s responsibility and could incur significant issues (costs) on site so please be vigilant.
Building Consent Statistics
82 consents were received in July, 63 in August and 59 in September.
What’s to come
Certificates of Titles needed for all consents except space heaters.
As of November the BCA will only accept Certificates of Titles as proof of ownership for all building consents. The only exception will be for space heater applications. Certificates of title can be sourced from LINZ (see below).
Land Record Order Form https://apps.linz.govt.nz/survey-titles/order-copy/
Mandatory Residential Building Consent lodgement meetings - from January 2016.
The BCA will be moving to requiring ‘fixed fee’ residential building consent applications to be lodged at a residential lodgement meeting. Please note this excludes ‘other simple residential building consents’ e.g. swimming pools, space heaters, solar, marquees and proprietary sheds.
Potential to extend the list of works classed as exempt under the Building Act 2004.
The current list of exempt works, under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004, including detached buildings less than 10sqm (with no sleeping or washing facilities and its own height from boundary) and carports, is being adjusted to widen the exemptions for borderline cases.
The list is also being extended to include some rural farm buildings and plant rooms.
This adjustment was reviewed and approved by the Planning & Regulatory committee on 29 October 2105. Please check the Council website building pages for details of the changes and the processes to be followed.
Please avoid using colour on plans submitted for consent and provide only relevant information
We have recently received some larger consent applications with colour titles and fabulous pictures. Unfortunately we usually scan documents in black and white as colour scanning uses too much memory. Keeping consent plans in black and white means faster, easier scanning and processing for the BCA.
We’d also like to remind you to ensure information submitted is relevant, as submitting unnecessary information slows down the processing of your consent and increases costs.
Consents and Compliance
Contact details:
Manager Consents and Compliance: mandy.bishop@ncc.govt.nz ph 5458740
What’s new
Staff changes
Victoria Bell joins the resource consents team from Auckland in a graduate planner role.
Consented development
A seven unit comprehensive housing development has been approved for the subdivision near the corner of The Ridgeway and Arapiki Road.
The upper floor of a building in Halifax Street has obtained consent for four residential apartments.
Resource Consent applications
The application to demolish and replace the Trathen’s building was publicly notified. No submissions opposing the proposal have been received. An independent commissioner will make a decision on the application.
An application for a retirement village off Princes Drive has been received and the next stage in the Montebello subdivision in Ngawhatu has also been lodged. Council has applied for the construction and operation of the Stoke Community Centre and this is undergoing public notification (66 submissions received, 61 opposing).
Resource Consents Stats
102 applications were received in the three months from July to September. All were processed on time, averaging 14 days for the non-notified applications.
Looking ahead
We anticipate consent application numbers will increase substantially leading up to Christmas, so to help us help you please ensure the applications include all the information we need to understand the activity and reach a decision. If you have any deadlines let us know about them and we will do our best to work with you to meet them.
We always welcome pre-application meetings or simple heads-up emails at any time of the year, so we can prepare our staff as well as any external experts that may be needed. We can also give you a heads up on anything else we need that you may not have thought about.
Planning
Manager Planning: matt.heale@ncc.govt.nz ph 5395506
What’s new
Staff Changes
Mark Leggett has joined the Planning Team, replacing Reuben Peterson who has moved on to Opus. Mark comes to us from Auckland Council where he worked in resource consents. He'll be helping to progress the biodiversity and landscape provisions in the new Nelson Plan.
Jane Loughnan has moved to a role with the Policy team within the Council. Rochelle Berry is temporarily in the Planning Administrator role until the position is filled permanently.
Urban Environments Bylaw
Council adopted the Urban Environments Bylaw. This covers the keeping of animals, urban amenity, trading in public places, control of alcohol in public places, reserves, and burial and cremations.
More information and the online version of the bylaw can be found at: http://nelson.govt.nz/council/bylaws/urban-environments-bylaw-225
Nelson Resource Management Plan Amendments
Amendments were made to the Resource Management Plan for Plan Change 18 becoming operative, for changes as a result of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, and for updates to designations (DTR3, DTR4 and DTR5).
More information about these amendments can be found at: http://nelson.govt.nz/environment/nelson-resource-management-plan/nelson-resource-management-plan-2/nrmp-plan-amendments/nrmp-31-august-2015-amendments/
The online versions of the plan are available for download from: http://nelson.govt.nz/environment/nelson-resource-management-plan/nelson-resource-management-plan-2/view-the-nrmp/
Seismic Strengthening Survey
The seismic strengthening survey was completed with 87 responses and a response rate of 31%. Survey results will be used to inform the development of the Nelson Plan. Responses have been summarised and are available on our website.
Quarterly retail reports
Council has commissioned quarterly retail spending reports from Marketview, using electronic card retail spending data. The reports include detail on spending by location, by customer origin, and by store types. Where possible, results are compared with Tasman and national statistics. The reports will be available on our website each quarter.
Population projections
In July, Statistics New Zealand updated population projections for Nelson’s 27 area units, giving us more detail on the drivers and demographics of future population growth in different parts of Nelson. A summary of these projections is available on our website. These reports will be updated later in the year when Statistics New Zealand publish new household projections for Nelson.
Updates
The Whakamahere Whakatu Nelson Plan – Update
The Nelson Plan is currently in the engagement phase with a range of meetings held with iwi partners and key stakeholders so far. Council and Iwi workshops have been held for Freshwater, Hazards, Heritage, Iwi, Coastal, Integration, Growth Areas and Stoke. Future workshops will be held for Air, Flooding and Coastal Hazards and the Regional Policy Statement.
The Nelson Plan - Community consultation
The first round of community consultation for the Nelson Plan will be held 2-30 November. The November issue of Live Nelson is a special Nelson Plan issue, outlining the process, key topic areas for the Plan and provides a form for comments. Information can also be found on our website:
http://nelson.govt.nz/environment/nelson-resource-management-plan/nelson-plan/
Comments can be made online, by dropping the feedback form into the Customer Service Centre at 110 Trafalgar St or by post.
The Planning Team will be holding information stalls at a range of community events in Tahunanui, Victory, Stoke, City Centre, and North Nelson during November and December.
The Nelson Plan – Water - Freshwater Advisory Group meetings
The Nelson North, Stoke and Maitai Freshwater Advisory Groups have been meeting to develop freshwater values and objectives for the catchments.
In other freshwater work, permitted water use by rural households and farms has been estimated for different catchments in Nelson. These estimates are being used to review the freshwater allocation limits, which also consider river flow data and consented water extraction.
Work is also underway to look into the state of Nelson’s water quality in relation to ecosystem and human health values and groundwater.
The Nelson Plan - Air
The Nelson City Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee has backed a recommendation to carry out a Woodburner Plan Change to be notified in January 2016.
The decision aims to bring forward potential changes to the rules on woodburners as requested by the community. Officers are working to present a report to Council with the proposed rules on 17 December.
The Nelson Plan – Hazards
Work is progressing on developing a flood practice note for the Maitai River Flood Model and flood modelling has commenced for the Stoke and Nelson North catchments.
A report on the geohazard risk in Lower Toitoi area in central Nelson has recently been completed.
The Nelson Plan – Coast
NIWA has been engaged to update the storm-tide analysis with the latest coastal water level and wave data. This will help inform work for the Land Development Manual and coastal hazard risk for Nelson.
The Nelson Plan- Heritage
Technical work is being carried out including a review of Category C heritage buildings and local trees. Officers are working with Iwi to identify sites of significance and value that are worthy of consideration for recognition.
The Nelson Plan – Built Environment
A developers’ Advisory Group has been set up to provide input on issues around the built environment and consider the role of the Housing Accord in influencing the supply of housing to the market.
The Nelson Plan – City Development
Stakeholder consultation and a series of workshop papers on enhancing the vitality of the city centre has identified a range of regulatory and non regulatory methods to be considered in the development of the Nelson Plan. An infrastructure prioritisation system for servicing growth areas is being worked on as this has been identified by stakeholders as being a key barrier to city development, across the urban area.
The Nelson Plan - Designations
Council has received formal responses from requiring authorities regarding the inclusion of their designations in the Whakamahere Whakatu Nelson Plan.
Environmental Programmes
Contact details:
Manager Environmental Programmes: dean.evans@ncc.govt.nz, ph 546 0339
What’s new
Staff Changes
Chelsea Woolhouse has joined the Environmental Programmes team and will be focussing on environmental education and sustainability initiatives. Chelsea is also the staff contact for information about the implementation of Nelson 2060.
Nelson Nature
The terrestrial monitoring programme (to gain baseline data) has been finalised with three of the contracts awarded and monitoring. The fourth contract is being finalised. Fish monitoring is also expected to begin in November.
The Taiwan cherry eradication programme is well underway for the year, with extensive control continuing in original areas while property owners with outlying trees are being contacted to request permission to remove them.
The Great Kereru Count was held in September. Council supported this initiative as part of Nelson Nature. Facebook coverage reached more than 11,000 people.
Planting projects were undertaken at Poormans Stream, Delaware Bay and along the stream near the Frisbee Golf Course. These projects involved staff from Hira School, students from the Nelson Christian Academy, Stoke Rotary Club and Council staff.
A buffer zone has been planted at the fish spawning site on Poormans Stream near Whakatu Drive to help protect the area.
Air quality monitoring
While Nelson had a comparatively long and relatively cold winter, the average wind speed was higher than usual during the coldest months which assisted with the outcome of only one exceedance of the National Environmental Standards for air quality limit of 50µg/m3 for fine particle matter (PM10). A level of 56µg/m3 was recorded at the St. Vincent St monitoring site (Airshed A) on 30 May. Levels were close on other days (see the following graph).
Five yearly monitoring of gases (Carbon monoxide (CO) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)) was undertaken in Airsheds A (St. Vincent St) and B1 (Blackwood St) from May to August this year. The results were well within the relevant national standards and guidelines.
Heritage Project Fund
Funding agreements have been issued for this year’s Heritage Project Fund. A total of $100,000 has been allocated for work on 13 heritage buildings.
Environmental Monitoring
A continuous water level monitoring site has been set up on the North Branch of the Maitai and routine water quality monitoring has commenced in the Maitai reservoir. The combined monitoring programmes will provide a continuous flow record for the North Branch and assessment of nutrient loads that inform future management of the reservoir.
Project Maitai/Mahitahi
Low tide, dry weather monitoring at the Collingwood St Bridge swimming hole has indicated generally low E. coli levels in the river over winter. Duplicate monitoring has begun at low and mid tide on the same day to see if the incoming tide increases E. coli levels at the swimming hole. Last summer E. coli levels were above safe swimming standards at this location on six occasions.
Research is underway into the drivers for Cyanobacteria (toxic algae) blooms. The Cawthron Institute is running four research projects using staff and summer students to help us understand where we should focus efforts to reduce these blooms.
Fish ladders and refuges have been created in the stream at Pipers Reserve (at the top of Emano St) to support the population of Banded Kokopu living there. A sign has been installed highlighting the fish population.
Community planting in August saw the reserve below the Maitai Camp completed, and planting areas in the Maitai and Brook have been allocated for next winter. Bollards and chains have been installed in the reserves at the Sharland/Maitai confluence to allow the ground to recover from heavy vehicle use and reduce sediment run off into the river. These areas will be opened again in summer.
Design and consultation are complete for fish passage improvements to the ford at the Waahi Taakaro Golf Course and the works are scheduled for early December.
Be Water Wise
The average person uses 250 litres of water per day with some professions and industries using a lot more; there is the potential for a lot of water and money to be wasted each day.
What can you do? Be water wise and integrate water conservation techniques into your day-to-day business operations. Reducing water usage is not only good for the planet but also for your bank balance. For water conservation tips visit: http://nelson.govt.nz/services/water-and-wastewater/water-conservation/ or email chelsea.woolhouse@ncc.govt.nz.
What’s to come
Training
A periphyton (algae-diatom-cyanobacteria) monitoring training session will be held at Cawthron and the Maitai River in November. The training course will be targeted at upskilling community river monitoring groups so that they are more able to contribute to Nelson’s freshwater management plan.