“This is a chance to step back and say, ‘Look, this is a piece of work that’s been done well over time’,” Walters said.
Walters expected the plan change to go operative on January 25.
The plan has four objectives and eight policies, focusing on enabling activities and developments consistent with the GIZ, while discouraging activities that are incompatible with the primary industrial role and function of the zone.
They manage the effects of built development, particularly where the adjoining property is used for residential, rural lifestyle or recreational purposes, and ensure development in the Mill Road industrial area is generally consistent with the Mill Road structure plan.
The public was notified of the plan on July 3, 2021. The appeal period closed on April 1 this year, with three received.
Two have been resolved and one was withdrawn.
One, from the McDonald Concrete Group, was resolved in the Environment Court of New Zealand in August.
In 2015, the business moved from its former premises on Heads Rd to its present site on Murray St because it offered room for expansion.
Land on neighbouring Kaikokopu Rd was industrial, but the plan change would have turned it into a general rural zone.
If re-zoning had occurred, stages three and four of the business’s expansion plan would have been taken elsewhere, manager Ross McDonald said.
“We wanted to keep it industrial so we had a soft barrier around us, and there was the ability to grow.
“It’s about future-proofing.”
McDonald said there were examples across the country of zoning decisions gone wrong.
“Palmerston North Airport is one, as well as Eden Park (Auckland).
“We just want space around us so we can get on with our thing, and we’re not going to bother anyone.”
Industrial-zoned land at 31 - 34 London Street (St Mary’s School) will become residential, as will industrial areas on George Street, Gibson Street and Bedford Avenue.
Industrial land at 16 - 36 Matipo Street (Te Kura o Kokohuia School) and 66 Matipo Street (partly the Kokohuia Reserve) will become residential and open space zones, respectively.
Open space zones at 8A and 8B Bryce Street will become industrial, and an area of Marangai Road will be changed from industrial to general rural.
After a plan is approved, the Common Seal of the Council is affixed.
The council is required to publicly notify the date on which Plan Change 54 becomes operative, at least five working days before the date.
McDonald said the company was in the process of installing new machinery and an expansion to its factory.
“For some of our products, we should be able to increase capacity about eight times over.”
