Plan Change 63 - Heritage

The council has been undergoing a rolling review of the District Plan for some years, through a series of Plan Changes. 

Recently, the District Plan has been evaluated to assess its effectiveness of identification, management and protection of significant buildings, monuments, and archaeological sites in the district. Heritage items may hold significance in various ways and can be scheduled in the District Plan to protect their heritage values. There may be more than one heritage value for each site and can be archaeological; architectural; cultural; historic; scientific or technological. It is intended to manage heritage sites using best practice principles referenced by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

The Historic Heritage chapter and associated appendices (Appendix A - Heritage Items and Appendix K - Archaeological and Wāhi Tūpuna) have been reviewed and it is now proposed to make some changes to the District Plan through Plan Change 63 - Heritage. A summary of the proposed changes is outlined below:

Reclassification and revision of Classes, and rules to be applied

The District Plan currently has six classes of heritage items, being a legacy of earlier District Plans and successive plan changes, where items were subject to one of six different sets of rules.  A simplified approach and reduction in the number of classes for items scheduled in Appendix A to two (Class A and Class B), and updated rules for each Class, will increase protection for items around the reasons for scheduling, while making work on other aspects of a site easier. This will require a reclassification of sites that were classified as C, BR, SCA or contributory in Appendix A (approximately 130 items).

Additions and amendments to Appendix A

The District Plan holds an inventory of heritage items in Appendix A, with associated scheduling reports for each site. A number of these reports have insufficient information and PC63 proposes to update these with additional relevant information.

The initial establishment of Appendix A was not an exhaustive list, and it was noted that further sites would be required to be added in subsequent amendments. For this purpose, a recent community nomination process has helped to identify 15 additional sites which are recommended for inclusion in Appendix A. Information about the nomination process can be found here

Archaeology and Wāhi Tūpuna sites

There are currently no rules attached to archaeological sites scheduled in Appendix K to control activities, apart from those sites within the Northwest Structure Plan Area. These relate to the recognition of mana whenua relationships with ancestral land, the accidental discovery of wāhi tapu sites, and associated procedures and protocols. The rules and standards have relevance to sites beyond the Northwest Structure Plan, and it is proposed that PC63 will contain rules pertaining to archaeological sites with consideration to ensuring consistency with provisions contained in the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014.

The current Appendix K schedule of archaeological sites does not easily identify the locations of the sites and buffer areas through spatial referencing. It is proposed to add rules for sites that have been verified with buffer areas and link them to the District Plan maps for efficiency and effectiveness of use. Sites with low levels of evidence are proposed to be removed from Appendix K but retained within Council’s mapping systems for historical records.

District Plan Section Relocation of Sites and Areas of Significance to Māori

The National Planning Standards (NPS) set directions in relation to where Historic Heritage and Sites and Areas of Significance to Māori are to sit within the District Plan. Prior to the National Standards implementation, these areas were combined within a heritage chapter, however, this plan change proposes to follow the directives of the NPS and therefore relocate matters accordingly. This includes creating a new appendix (Appendix B) for the scheduled wāhi tūpuna sites.

Information relating to District Plan Change PC63 - Heritage is below, with the most recent stage at the top.