Thames-Coromandel councillors question ‘granny flats’ submission

The Government has proposed a National Environmental Standard that would say “minor residential units” are a permitted activity, meaning they would no longer require resource consent.

Thames-Coromandel district councillors have questioned a submission to a Government proposal to allow construction of “granny flats” as a permitted activity not requiring consents under the Building Act and Resource Management Act (RMA).

While they have agreed to voice opposition to the proposed changes, some councillors raised concerns their submission was too negative and there was a need for more suitable accommodation in the district.

Thames-Coromandel District Council principal strategic adviser Sian Smith said in a report that removing or reducing consent requirements would have minimal impact on the cost of building a small secondary dwelling because the consenting costs were a small component of the total cost.

The Building Act proposals did not sufficiently address building safety risks, including site-specific risks such as natural hazards and infrastructure needs.

There were also processes in the act that landowners could use to “fast-track” their consents.

Councillor Peter Revell said his gut feeling was anything the council could do to facilitate the building of dwellings had to be good.

He understood there might be concerns around substandard dwellings, but said it was a matter of supporting the construction of more dwellings.

Councillor Deli Connell said she found the report “quite negative” and suggested there was a lack of suitable accommodation for workers in the district, specifically for those in the aquaculture sector.

Councillor Rekha Giri-Percival said the council should agree housing affordability was a problem across the Coromandel and not only in Thames.

Mayor Len Salt said there needed to be a measured approach.

Smith said the Government was wrong and asked if granny flats were really the problem.

“It feels like Government is throwing something at it, but it is just a little widget.”

The Government has proposed a National Environmental Standard, a document under the RMA, that would say “minor residential units” are a permitted activity, meaning they would no longer require resource consent.

The flats would need to comply with “permitted standards” such as maximum building coverage and minimum permeable surface requirements, which will be needed to manage stormwater run-off and flooding risks.

The discussion document includes a range of options for requiring a setback, which is the amount of space between the flat and the boundary. One of the options is requiring no minimum setback, maximising the space someone could potentially build on.

Smith said most district plans (including the Thames-Coromandel district plan) already permitted small secondary dwellings in residential zones, so it was not difficult for landowners to build them.

The proposal for notification of the construction of 60sq m secondary dwellings would create costs for local authorities that would need to be met by ratepayers and probably also lead to landowners incurring costs for rework they had not known or budgeted for.

The council opposed establishing a new schedule in the Building Act to provide an exemption for simple stand-alone dwellings up to 60sq m, but recommended fast-track consenting options be developed.

It disagreed that housing affordability was a problem, rather a symptom of housing market failures.

In Thames, while most of the housing stock was of low quality, its value continued to rise due to a lack of supply. The key failure in the market was therefore an overall lack of supply.

Councillors accepted the submission.