Construction sector demands Whanganui District Council review after infill housing issues

Venture Build director Adam Tipper (left, with fellow director Peter Czerwonka) says consent applicants receive conflicting advice, experience delays and incur additional costs. Photo / Mike Tweed

Parts of Whanganui’s construction sector are demanding a review of the council’s planning team, saying it stifles the delivery of infill housing.

A group of builders, developers and surveyors presented its case to Whanganui district councillors at a meeting on September 16.

Spokesman Adam Tipper, director of Venture Build, said the city had a chronic shortage of smaller, affordable houses, which impacted older people looking to downsize and first-home buyers.

“Infill housing delivers those homes in a way that is cost-effective, land-efficient, makes use of existing infrastructure, and strengthens our neighbourhoods.”

He said the council’s district plan was meant to provide consistency and clarity when guiding development.

“In practice, its interpretation by the planning department often varies.

“What one planner may consider a permitted or minor activity, another may view as requiring resource consent or additional assessments.”

Applicants were receiving conflicting advice, experiencing delays and incurring additional costs, “while trying to meet shifting expectations”.

Responses received often provided little meaningful guidance, Tipper said.

Infill housing often involved breaching one or more rules within the district plan, “most commonly, the minimum lot size requirement of one unit per 400 square metres”.

“At present, minor non-compliances receive little discretion, with an over-emphasis on full compliance over practical solutions.”

Council data shows 153 land-use consent applications and 130 subdivision consent applications were processed in 2024-25, with similar numbers in 2023-24 and 2022-23.

In 2021-22, there were 241 land-use applications and 98 subdivision applications.

There were 143 new residential building consents granted for single detached dwellings processed in 2022-23, with 84 in 2023-24 and 113 in 2024-25.

Councils have 20 working days to process building consent applications, but can “stop the clock” if more information is required.

A Chronicle request for the number of building, subdivision and land-use consents requiring further work from the builder or developer over the past five years has been referred to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act process.

Tipper questioned whether there needed to be a minimum lot size, with councillors previously invited to view developments with lot sizes of 180sq m.

Council chief executive David Langford told the group there were challenges in the planning department and, when he started in the role in March 2022, no staff planners were employed.

“We were outsourcing everything. Over the last few years, we’ve had to build the team.”

An infill project (foreground, centre) by Venture Build on Mathieson St in central Whanganui.

That had been a slow and difficult process, but there needed to be balance in the group’s criticism, he said.

“A lot of the applications that do get stuck in the planning sausage machine are because they are challenging the limits and boundaries of the rules of the district plan.

“It is entirely appropriate for our planning staff to challenge and push back on those at times.

“Otherwise, we may as well not have a planning department and just say yes to everything.”

Earlier this year, the Government ordered all council plan changes to be halted, with the Resource Management Act to be replaced by two new acts by the end of the year.

A review of the council’s district plan was paused before this year’s (2025-26) annual plan.

Langford said the council would pursue a miscellaneous plan change to streamline rules that got in the way of good-quality development.

The Government’s ruling had slowed that process, but an exemption was being sought, he said.

He encouraged the group to “come and talk to me”.

“As far as I can tell, there is only one of you in the room that has actually met me, phoned me, asked for assistance.

“When you have, I’ve given it [to] you and you’ve got your consents approved.”

Tipper said the group was requesting a review of the planning department’s leadership, culture and performance to be carried out by an external consultant.

The group wanted to review the draft terms of reference of the review before they were finalised, and the credentials of the preferred consultant.

Council regulatory and compliance operations manager Jason Shailer said the council was already planning a review of its resource consenting process.

“To be clear, where a proposed development doesn’t meet the requirements of the district plan, the consenting process will always be more complex than for projects that comply fully.

“As the regulator, the council has a responsibility to balance what developers want with protecting our community from poor-quality or inappropriate development.”

Langford met developers this week in preparation for the review.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.