District Plan Change A - Growth Rezonings
Council has obtained Ministerial Approval to proceed with Plan Change A - Growth Rezonings.
Plan Change A focuses on residential and industrial rezonings to support growth for Tararua across our four main towns.
The proposed zonings are those that were included in the Draft District Plan documents that we spoke about last year and through the Growth Strategy process.
This work is effectively a pivot from our Draft District Plan Review that was stopped under the Governments Plan Change announcement last year. The plan change’s scope is isolating the rezonings from the wider district plan review (which has been stopped) and putting them forward in a specific plan change process to increase land supply in the district for future development.
The previously proposed changes to the commercial management areas are not part of this process; the exemption does not include changes from "commercial" to "mixed use" zones. This work is out of scope and any rezoning in these areas does not align with the Governments direction to support housing growth and development.
Public consultation open now.
Public notification opens on 7 September 2026 under Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). Once Plan Change A is notified, anyone can make a submission supporting or opposing any part of it or suggesting changes.
View consultation dates and details
Timing and process
The indicative timeline for Plan Change A is as follows.
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May-June 2026
Prepare draft Plan Change A. -
12 August 2026
Council adopted Plan Change A for consultation. -
7 September 2026
Plan Change A publicly notified and submissions open. -
Monday, 5 October 2026, 5:00pm
Submissions close. -
Monday, 19 October 2026
Summary of submissions publicly available and further submissions invited. -
Monday, 2 November 2026, 5:00pm
Further submissions close. -
Mid-December 2026
Hearing (date indicative). -
Following the hearing
Council decisions. -
Following decisions
Appeals period.
Questions
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.