Tasman District Council and Nelson City Council are preparing a joint Future Development Strategy. This is to help plan for and manage how and where urban growth will go over the next 30 years.
A Future Development Strategy that covers adjoining Council areas is encouraged under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity. Its purpose is to ensure that the councils' zoning and infrastructure rollouts support projected housing and business growth.
A Future Development Strategy addresses one part of the complex housing affordability and liveability issues in the region, which is ensuring land capacity (zoning and infrastructure) is not restricting housing and business supply.
The Strategy sits above and provides direction to the Council’s other planning tools such as resource management plans and policy statements, infrastructure strategies, asset management plans, regional land transport plans and the Long Term Plan.
Our region is growing fast; both Nelson and Tasman councils are undertaking the strategy together in order to ensure there is adequate long term housing and business capacity for our region.
We would like to hear from people who live in the Nelson-Tasman region about how we should best provide for growth while making sure that our region continues to be a great place to live, learn, work and play.
Do we grow existing urban areas up (intensify) or allow them to spread out? Or do we create new towns and rural settlements from scratch – and if so what should these look like? Are there places where growth should be avoided or concentrated? And how do we accommodate the needs of the extra people who will live here?
Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne said for the strategy to be successful we need to think decades ahead but also provide a means of coping with the change we may not foresee.
“In order to do that we need to enable communities that are resilient, connected and sustainable. They may not look like the settlements we know today but they must reflect what is attractive about living in the region.”
Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese says that this feedback process will inform the Future Development Strategy as a framework for growth and development in the region.
“This is an opportunity to create better outcomes for the community and the environment through identifying where we should grow, how we should develop and intensify, and to proactively plan public infrastructure to align with development.
"We need a plan that will help us deliver on liveable and sustainable cities, towns and rural settlements. I encourage you all to come and have a conversation about how we can achieve this.”
There are many options available, and they all have their advantages and disadvantages.
Your input on these and other questions will help us plan for our future. We’re looking for high-level feedback at this stage, with a further opportunity for feedback on the draft strategy in a few months’ time.
For more information on the strategy, and to provide your feedback on these issues, visit nelson.govt.nz/future-development-strategy or tasman.govt.nz/feedback.
Consultation documents and feedback forms are also available at Tasman District and Nelson City Council offices and libraries.
Feedback should be received by 5pm Monday 11 February 2019.