Plan Change 47 - Natural Hazards
We’re in the process of updating our District Plan (the rules for land use and development in Upper Hutt) to address the risk from natural hazards. It’s called Plan Change 47 (PC47) and it has three distinct areas of focus:
- The Wellington Fault
- Mangaroa Peatlands
- Areas of High Slope Hazard
The proposed changes impact some properties in Upper Hutt.
Plan Change Update May 2023
Thank you for the submissions and further submission we received on PC47 – Natural Hazards. These raised some issues that we are currently working through to resolve.
We will be back in contact once we have finished this process to inform submitters of the changes that have been made and the next steps involved in the plan change process.
Consultation 2022
Consultation for Plan Change 47 – Natural Hazards closed on 4 November 2022, and we received 103 submissions.
Further submissions closed on 22 February 2023. Scroll down for more information, including the background of the plan change and the initial consultation.
Following an early engagement phase in 2021, we called for submissions on PC47. A Plan Change is a public process involving research, evaluation and consultation with our community.
Letters were sent to all landowners affected by the proposed plan change which would:
- Introduce a definition for Hazard Sensitive Activities, Potentially Hazard Sensitive Activities and Less Hazard Sensitive Activities.
- Update natural hazard objectives, policies, rules and mapping that relate to the Wellington Fault.
- Introduce natural hazard objectives, policies, rules and maps relating to the proposed High Slope Hazard Overlay and Poor Ground Conditions Overlay in Mangaroa. The current District Plan provisions do not address these two hazards.
- Update the earthworks and subdivision provisions in relation to natural hazards.
What this could mean for you
- Less Hazard Sensitive Activities are permitted in the Wellington Fault, High Slope Hazard and Poor Ground Conditions Overlays.
- Hazard Sensitive and Potentially Hazard Sensitive Activities in the Wellington Fault Overlay would require resource consent.
- Subdivision within the Wellington Fault Overlay would need to consider the risk associated with the subdivision and fault rupture.
- All earthworks for building platforms for identified Hazard Sensitive Activities would need resource consent in the High Slope Hazard Overlay.
- All subdivisions in the Poor Ground Conditions Overlay would require resource consent.
Check the map
Our interactive online map shows highlights the natural hazard areas. Click on the image below or here and search an address to see how this proposal impacts your property.
Kōrero with us
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact planning@uhcc.govt.nz.
We held a public Zoom session on 10 October where residents were able to ask their questions. A recording of the session can be found here - PC47 Zoom Session - 10 October.
| Stage |
Status |
Plan Change Documents |
| Further Submissions |
Further submissions closed on 22 February 2023 |
|
| Notification |
Submissions closed on 4 November 2022 |
- Natural hazards S32 report(PDF, 882KB)
- Upper Hutt City Fault Trace Project 2005(PDF, 2MB)
- Upper Hutt Geotechnical Assessment(PDF, 22MB)
- GNS revised fault hazard(PDF, 4MB)
- High slope hazard update - August 2022(PDF, 4MB)
- Mangaroa peatlands extent revision(PDF, 7MB)
- Mangaroa peatlands extent revision letter(PDF, 6MB)
- Public notice(PDF, 36KB)
- Form 5 - PDF version(PDF, 54KB)
- Form 5 - Word version(DOCX, 39KB)
|
BACKGROUND
We’re in the process of updating our District Plan and will be undertaking a plan change that addresses the risk from natural hazards. It’s called Plan Change 47 and has three distinct areas of focus:
The Wellington Fault
The Wellington Fault is currently shown in the District Plan as part of a 40m wide corridor. As a result of further investigation by GNS Science, the position of the Wellington Fault is now better understood and the location and extent has changed in some areas. You can read the full report here: Upper Hutt City Fault Trace Project(PDF, 2MB).
We are proposing to update the District Plan maps to identify the current understanding of the fault position. This would result in a plan change for the Wellington Fault and other natural hazards, with changes to the rules for development in these hazard prone areas.
Our interactive online map viewer where you can zoom in and see the existing position of the Wellington Fault Band, and the proposed Wellington Fault Overlay in relation to your property is available below.
2022 GNS Fault update
We received an updated report in February 2022 updating some of the fault information in the northern part of the District. This report can be found here: Wellington Fault Revision for UHCC(PDF, 4MB)
Mangaroa Peatlands
We've identified the Mangaroa Peatlands as having poor ground conditions for new buildings due to settlement of the peat soils. This hazard was identified by Coffey Geotechnical Engineers in the following report; Upper Hutt Geotechnical Assessment(PDF, 201MB) (note, this document is very large and will take a while to load depending on your internet connection).
This plan change will introduce rules for new subdivision or residential development within the Peat Overlay. It is important that new development is managed in this area to ensure that future buildings are designed in a manner to address the risks associated with settlement due to the poor ground conditions in the Peat Overlay.
You can access our interactive online map viewer below, where you can zoom in and see the position of the Peat Overlay in relation to a specific property.
The proposed plan change will not impact existing dwellings or buildings. Rather it is focused on ensuring the risk from the poor ground conditions does not increase as a result of future development. This means that new subdivisions and dwellings within the Peat Overlay would be required to go through the resource consent process to determine whether the risk as a result of the poor ground conditions is appropriately mitigated.
High Slope Hazard
We’ve identified the portions of the city that have a high slope hazard. New building platforms in this area have the potential to impact the stability of the hillside. This means that new building platforms for dwellings in this area will be required to go through the resource consent process to ensure that the stability of the hillside is not impacted by development.
This hazard was identified by Coffey Geotechnical Engineers. This hazard was identified by Coffey Geotechnical Engineers in the following report; Upper Hutt Geotechnical Assessment(PDF, 201MB) (note, this document is very large and will take a while to load depending on your internet connection).
You can access our interactive online map viewer below, where you can zoom in and see the position of the High Slope Hazard Overlay in relation to a specific property.
Interactive online map viewer
Click here or on the image below to access our interactive online map viewer where you can zoom in and see the position of the Wellington Fault Band, the Peat Overlay or the High Slope Hazard Overlay in relation to a specific property.
Why are we doing this?
The Resource Management Act requires Council’s to re-evaluate their District Plan every 10 years. The natural hazards chapter has not been reviewed since 2004 and therefore are due for re-evaluation.
The Resource Management Act 1991 and the Wellington Regional Policy seek to undertake a risk-based approach to the management of natural hazards. The proposed provisions introduces a risk-based approach for these natural hazards.
What are the proposed rules?
A set of indicative objective, policies and rules have been developed and can be found here: Indicative-Natural-Hazard-Provisions.pdf(PDF, 307KB),
These provisions have been developed to help impacted property owners to understand the potential new framework that may be implemented. These provisions are only draft and are subject to change, depending on the feedback we receive.
Who can I talk to so I can find out more?
If you want to find out more then please contact us on the number below, our administrator will arrange a call back from one of our planners. If you have any questions, please contact us at: