Rules tighten on coastal development

It's just got a whole lot harder to subdivide along Whangarei's coast, after a landmark Environment Court ruling more than tripled the area a developer needs before it can be carved up.
The Environment Court has ruled that anyone wanting to subdivide land in Whangarei's coastal or countryside areas needs at least 20ha before a subdivision can proceed as of right.
The ruling is being hailed by environmentalists, and rued by developers and some landowners.
The decision also means higher costs for the Whangarei District Council, which has to put greater scrutiny on subdivision applications, and on developers who will have to justify their plans.
The court upheld an appeal by the Department of Conservation and raised the minimum lot-size in coastal and countryside zones from four hectares and six hectares respectively to 20ha. The court found the council's subdivision rules to be defective and said the interim 20ha minimum would protect the environment while the council rewrites them.
The ruling means more coastal houses will need resource consent, stricter controls on building design, and more say for neighbours of planned subdivisions.
Whangarei Mayor Pamela Peters said the decision meant developers would have to meet more complex stipulations before subdividing land.
"The decision does not affect the everyday life of the householder or businessperson of Whangarei, rather it impacts on developers and one-off subdividers," Mrs Peters said.
Raising the bar to a 20ha minimum meant only some properties could be subdivided, and it would be harder to establish lifestyle blocks or fragment land.
She said the decision would lead to greater costs for the council in administration and for the subdivider.
"It's not that people cannot now apply to develop, it is just that they will have to go through a more stringent process when they do," Mrs Peter said.
"This ruling has the effect of halting `as of right' development in the district until urban growth and coastal management strategies are finalised."
Both these strategies are being worked on by the council, with the pressure now on to complete them as soon as possible.
With Whangarei's massive growth in recent years, many subdivisions had already been given consent but not yet developed.
Those would still go ahead.
"The Environment Court ruling simply serves to slow subdivision momentum so that a more considered approach may be taken," she said.
DOC wanted subdivision in the district slowed while the council finds ways to protect the coastline.
• In a separate clampdown aimed at protecting coastal land, Conservation Minister Chris Carter has announced a review of coastal development rules.
The announcement followed Mr Carter's decision to veto a $10 million marina development at Whangamata, despite a favourable ruling from the Environment Court.
Mr Carter said communities around New Zealand were concerned about coastal development and a review of Government policy was needed.
* COUNCIL COPS SUBDIVISION FLAK
Developers are pulling out of Whangarei following an Environment Court ruling increasing the area of land needed for subdividing.
Whangarei solicitor Tony Savage, of Urlich McNab Kilpatrick, has this week had two developers pull the plug on plans for small subdivisions as the ruling made it too hard to continue. "It's not really going to affect the large, 500-lot subdivisions too much, but the small, three or four lifestyle block-type lots," Mr Savage said. "A lot of developers are angry. We've already had a couple of deals that aren't going to go ahead because of this ruling. And there'll be more." The ruling would increase costs for developers in the initial stage of applications for consents, costs they would have to bear until the development sold. The blame lay with the Whangarei District Council. "The court made it 20ha in the absence of sound arguments from the council as to why it should have been four and six hectares."
The court said the council's approach did not meet the purpose of the Resource Management Act "by a considerable margin".