Plan Change 45 – Signs

Plan Change 45 became Operative on the 20th October 2019.

Appeal period closed

The appeal period for Plan Change 45 closed at 5:00pm on the 28th November 2019, with no appeals lodged during this time. The operative date of the Plan Change will be publicly notified in the coming weeks.’

Decision on hearing recommendation notified

The Council decision on the plan change was notified on the 16 October 2019, with the public notice viewable in the table below. Pursuant to Clause 14 of the First Schedule of the Resource Management Act 1991 the appeal period for the plan change was opened on the 16th October 2019

The Recommendation from the Independent Hearing Commissioner to Upper Hutt City Council on the Plan Change has now been received. The recommendation report can be seen in the table below. The report details the findings of the hearing panel upon consideration of the submissions made on the Plan Change.

The hearing panel concluded that ‘the proposed plan change is consistent with Part 2 of the Act and that the Council can approve PPC45 with the recommended amendments’.

The recommendation from the Hearings Commissioner was presented to Full Council on 2 October 2019, where Council resolved to accept the hearing panel’s recommendations to approve the Plan Change.

The Panel closed the hearing and proceeded to deliberation and delivering its recommendation to the Council.

The Council Officer’s Right of Reply(PDF, 945KB) for PC 45 has been Circulated to the hearing panel and submitters and can be found in the table below.

The hearing for Plan Change 45 was adjourned pending the Council Officer’s Right of Reply until Friday 24 May 2019

The hearing for Plan Change 45 was scheduled for 8 May 2019. Council officers prepared a hearing report (s42A report(PDF, 495KB)) in advance of the hearing, which can be found with supporting documents in the table below. Copies of the submissions, the council summary of submissions and the further submissions received are also available below, any questions on the plan change can be directed to the Councils consultant planner Brett Osborne (brett.osborne@uhcc.govt.nz).

Further Submissions for Proposed Plan Change 45 – Signs opened on 10 October 2018 and closed 5pm on the 25 October 2018 Consultation closed at 5.00 pm on Wednesday 18 July 2018

The Resource Management Act 1991 (the Act) requires a review of all District Plan provisions to be commenced within 10 years of their enactment. Proposed Plan change 45 – Signs (PPC45) therefore acts as a review of the provisions for signs in the Operative Upper Hutt City District Plan 2004. The provisions have been reviewed together with the review of the Council’s Control of Advertising Bylaw (Signs Bylaw) to ensure a comprehensive and integrated review of methods which manage signs in the district.

The Consultation on the Signs bylaw closed with it being adopted by Council on 26 September 2018 and made operative on 3 October 2018.

Schedule 1 of the Act describes the procedure for a proposed Plan Change and the process required to publicly notify any Plan Change. This Plan Change has been conducted in accordance with Schedule 1.

Proposed Plan Change 45 seeks to update and consolidate the signs provisions. The reasons for undertaking the review can be summarised as follows:

• The provisions were due to be reviewed and updated as they have not been reviewed since the District Plan was made operative.
• A need to update and consolidate provisions including to implement the new District Plan structure introduced through Plan Change 43 – Introductory chapters.
• Reviewing the signs provisions together with a review of the Council’s Control of Advertising Bylaw (Signs Bylaw) ensure a comprehensive and integrated review of methods which manage signs in the district.

The following summarises the main changes proposed by PPC45

• All general signs provisions are combined into a single signs chapter.
• A new signs objective is inserted which recognises the need for signs and that they need to be well managed (as relates to issues for character, amenity and transport safety).
• The insertion of more specific signs policies which apply across the district, but which recognise and provide for the different characteristics of zones.
• Updated and amended rules, matters of discretion, and definitions, which maintain the current approach that most signs are permitted subject to meeting minimum standards.
• Where standards are not met, they would be assessed as restricted discretionary or discretionary activities. This retains the primary activity status for most activities of restricted discretionary, where permitted standards are not met.
• A new discretionary activity status for signs is introduced for signs which incorporate movement or changing content (including digital signage) and signs which are not situated on the site to which they relate.

PC45 recommends changes to these chapters:

District Plan Chapter		Part of chapter to be amended
Chapter 2	Definitions	Amended definition of sign and new definition of temporary sign.
Chapter 4	Residential Zone	Remove Policy 4.4.8
Chapter 8A.3	General Rules (New Chapter)	The insertion of the new Chapter 8A.3 – General Rules (New Chapter)New objective, policies and rules, including matters of discretion. Changes include: updating and amending existing District Plan content (from other chapters and repositioning them into this chapter).
Chapter 15	Environmental Quality	Remove Policy 15.4.5. Remove methods which relate to signs.
Chapter 18	Residential Zone Rules	Remove rules for signs and matters for consideration and matters of discretion relating to signs.
Chapter 19	Rural Zone Rules	Remove rules for signs and matters for consideration and matters of discretion relating to signs.
Chapter 20	Business Zone Rules	Remove rules for signs and matters for consideration and matters of discretion relating to signs.
Chapter 21	Open Space Rules	Remove rules for signs and matters for consideration and matters of discretion relating to signs.
Chapter 22	Special Activity Zone Rules	Remove rules for signs and matters for consideration and matters of discretion relating to signs.

All PC 45 material, including the Public Notification Notice, is available below.

Stage			Status	Documents
Notification				Notification Documents Public Notice(PDF, 271KB) Section 32 Report(PDF, 433KB) Appendix 2 – Urban Design Report(PDF, 1MB) Appendix 3 – Traffic and Signs(PDF, 188KB) Appendix 4 – Objectives and Policies(PDF, 92KB) Notification Report(PDF, 825KB) Proposed Changes to District Plan Chapters Chapter 02 -Definitions(PDF, 457KB) Chapter 04 - Residential Zone(PDF, 201KB) Chapter 8A.3 - General Rules (New Chapter)(PDF, 697KB) Chapter 15 - Environmental Quality(PDF, 160KB) Chapter 18 - Residential Zone Rules(PDF, 2MB) Chapter 19 - Rural Zone Rules(PDF, 328KB) Chapter 20 - Business Rules(PDF, 1MB) Chapter 21 - Open Space Zone Rules(PDF, 365KB) Chapter 22 - Special Activity Zone Rules(PDF, 277KB)
Submission				Submission Documents Summary of Submissions(PDF, 276KB) Public Notice(PDF, 770KB) Further Submissions Form 6(PDF, 39KB) Submissions #1 Woolworths New Zealand Ltd(PDF, 292KB) #2 A Tindale(PDF, 1MB) #3 Z Energy Ltd BP Oil NZ Ltd Mobil Oil NZ Ltd(PDF, 417KB) #4 Powerco Limited(PDF, 2MB) #5 KiwiRail Holdings Limited (KiwiRail)(PDF, 26KB) #6 NZ Transport Agency(PDF, 3MB) Further Submissions Powerco(PDF, 302KB) KiwiRail(PDF, 29KB) NZ Transport Agency(PDF, 734KB) The Oil Companies(PDF, 297KB)
Pre-Hearing			Pre-Hearing Documents Council Officer’s Hearing report(PDF, 495KB) Appendix 1  Summary of Proposed Changes(PDF, 690KB) Appendix 2  Submissions and further submissions(PDF, 7MB) Appendix 3  Legal Opinion(PDF, 235KB) Appendix 4  Summary of Submissions(PDF, 277KB) Appendix 5  Urban Design Advice(PDF, 4MB) Appendix 6  Proposed Changes to District Plan Text (‘s32AA table’)(PDF, 182KB) Minute # 1 of Hearing Chairperson (Directions pre-hearing)(PDF, 73KB) Submitter’s Evidence Statement of Evidence of Allison Tindale(PDF, 568KB) Statement of Evidence of Mathew Thode(PDF, 256KB) Attachment A to Evidence of Mathew Thode(PDF, 307KB) Statement of Evidence of NZ Transport Agency Expert witness evidence by Mr Stephen Muir on behalf of the NZ Transport Agency(PDF, 2MB)   Woolworths have provided a Hearing Statement in advance of the hearing.  Woolworths Hearing Statement (PDF, 57KB) KiwiRail have provided a Hearing Statement in advance of the hearing. KiwiRail Hearing Statement(PDF, 25KB) NZ Transport Agency have provided a Hearing Statement in advance of the hearing. Statement of Evidence of NZ Transport Agency(PDF, 2MB) Mathew Thode provided a Hearing Statement in advance of the hearing. Mathew Thode oral statement for Hearing Panel(PDF, 183KB)
Post-Hearing				Council Officer’s Right of Reply for PC 45(PDF, 945KB) Minute #2 Closing the Hearing(PDF, 214KB)
Decision			Decision Documents	Public Notice(PDF, 63KB) Council Decision Report(PDF, 106KB) Ordinary Council Minutes  Signs report combined with chapters(PDF, 8MB)
			Decision Chapters	Chapter 02 - Definitions(PDF, 445KB) Chapter 04 - Residential Zone(PDF, 201KB) Chapter 8A.3 - General Rules(PDF, 284KB) Chapter 15 - Environmental Quality(PDF, 160KB) Chapter 18 - Residential Zone Rules(PDF, 2MB) Chapter 19 - Rural Zone Rules(PDF, 328KB) Chapter 20 - Business Rules(PDF, 1MB) Chapter 21 - Open Space Zone Rules(PDF, 798KB) Chapter 22 - Special Activity Zone Rules(PDF, 277KB)