Black Point consent application to proceed non-notified

14 November 2006

An independent Commissioner has decided that an application by developers seeking approval for a proposed subdivision at Black Point, a headland between Church Bay and Diamond Harbour in Lyttelton Harbour, be processed on a non-notified basis.

The application in its current form would see the area subdivided into 50 residential allotments ranging in size from 890-5000m², with an average lot size of 1580m².

Five of the lots have existing buildings.

The former Banks Peninsula District Council (BPDC) considered buying the land in the 1990s, but the land later sold for several million dollars which was well beyond what BPDC could afford to pay.

“After extensive negotiations with the developer, Christchurch City Council has been able to have the application amended so as to minimise the potential impacts of the development on the environment and to maximise the amount of reserve land able to be used by the public,” says Council Resource Management Manager Tim Harris.

“The amendments in their current form would effect those lots with the most visual impact, Lots 16 and 17. The changes limit height restrictions on those lots to buildings of up to 3.5 metres and place boundaries on how high up the ridge construction could occur (4 metres below the ridge).”

The amendments also increase the amount of reserve land on the development to almost 1.75 hectares.

“In coming to a decision the Commissioner said that community input had already occurred in respect to the site; namely through the Proposed District Plan submission process,” Mr Harris says.

The Commissioner’s report also states that “bearing in mind the zoning of the land in the Proposed District Plan, the subdivision and development of the site for residential purposes as embodied in this application, is inevitable. Based on the information before me, which is substantial, I have no reason not to accept the officer's recommendation that the application for subdivision be processed on a non-notified basis in accordance with Section 93(1)(b) of the Resource Management Act 1991.”

An independent Commissioner will make a decision in the next couple of weeks as to whether the application will be approved or declined.

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