Hawke’s Bay’s subdivision rules could change to help cyclone-hit homeowners

Destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle at the Doggy Farmstay Boarding and Daycare in Esk Valley. Photo / Katrina Harris

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

People in Hawke’s Bay with property deemed too unsafe to live on after Cyclone Gabrielle may soon have a chance to purchase new land close to home.

Hastings District Council has been exploring options to help people find somewhere else to live in their community, a report to the Māori standing committee shows.

It suggested a new rule to allow nearby landowners outside category 3 to subdivide and sell a section to a category 3 landowner — which might not otherwise comply with existing subdivision rules — if they wanted to.

That could be done under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Order in Council brought in after the cyclone — a legislative tool that helps speed up the process under the Resource Management Act, with the “major advantage” that it cannot be appealed, the document says.

The idea was endorsed by the Māori standing committee on Wednesday, council planning manager John O’Shaughnessy told RNZ. The detail would now be fleshed out before it was brought to council for adoption.

“We hope to have it in place mid-2024,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Those considering buyouts had been asking how they might continue to live in their communities. Photo / Robin Martin

Those considering buyouts had been asking how they might continue to live in their communities, the report says.

“Obstacles to people accepting buyout offers include uncertainty as to whether and where they can move to if they accept an offer.

“It has been signalled by all involved in the recovery process that it would be most beneficial to be able to offer some options to landowners for replacement residential land in close proximity when entering into buyout discussions.”

It had been considering options that would help affected landowners as quickly as possible, without leaving the door open for unaffected residents to “gain advantage that they would not normally be entitled to”.

Because landowners lost their right to live on category 3 land, the proposed new rule would enable a new lifestyle lot to be created as a replacement for that.

“As this rule would rely on one residential right to be forfeited to provide for another one, this would ensure that it would only benefit those people that are involved in the category 3 buyout process. It would also allow each affected person to seek out a replacement that best suits their own individual needs.”

The details were still being worked through, including which zones the new rule would apply to — likely to be rural and rural lifestyle — and the maximum size of the replacement land.