Community to get say on distrct plan change

Petone residents and businesses will soon get the opportunity to make submissions on a proposed change to zoning rules in the western end of Petone.

The council will next week mail out details of District Plan change 29, which proposes providing for a mix of uses, including residential and retail, as well as relaxing and standardising development rules in the area bounded by The Esplanade, Hutt Road, Petone Avenue, Campbell Terrace, Victoria Street and Sydney Street.

The direct mail-out to more than 1,000 households and businesses will contain an outline of the proposal, a summary of the new rules, how to make a submission and a series of simulations of how the area may look under the new zoning rules. There will also be details about a workshop to be held on how to make a good submission.

The council’s head of District Plan changes, Bronwyn Little, says the changes have the potential to significantly alter the shape and nature of the area, and the council is anxious that as many people as possible are made aware of the proposal and their right to lodge a submission. “The council feels strongly that the better informed people are, the more likely we are to have informed debate about the changes,” she says.

The proposal will be publicly notified on June 26 in the Hutt News.