Interested in making a further submission on the Proposed Waikato District Plan (Stage 2)?

Stage 2 of the proposed district plan, which covers natural hazards and climate change, was notified in July 2020. Those wanting to make a further submission have until 5pm on 14 December 2020.

Waikato District Council Chief Executive Gavin Ion says the district plan is an important document that tells the community how the district’s land can be used, developed and subdivided. It also serves to protect sites identified as significant to our cultural heritage and to our environment.

“Taking further submissions on the second stage of the Proposed Waikato District Plan is an important milestone on our progress towards finalising a new plan that brings together the old Franklin and Waikato sections to provide a consistent approach to development and growth across the district,” Mr Ion says.

A further submission is a written statement that allows you to support or oppose other people’s submissions. It gives you the opportunity to comment on how a submission may impact you, and to have your views considered by the Hearings Panel along with the original submission. Further submissions may be made by people who represent a relevant aspect of the public interest; or who have an interest in the proposed plan greater than the interest that the general public has. You do not need to have made an original submission to make a further submission.

Those who live in the Waipa River flood plain management area have also recently received a letter from us regarding the inaccuracies in the proposed flood mapping for this area. We have since fixed the mapping issue that caused the inaccuracies, but we have had to make a submission on the proposed district plan requesting the maps to be updated. Residents in this affected area now have an opportunity to support or oppose the revised map by making a further submission.

In order to help you, the submissions already made and the Summary of Submissions (listed by submitter), can be found on Council’s website at www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/stage2. Printed versions are also available in all the Council’s offices and libraries.

Council encourages anyone making a further submission to do it online, but hard copies of the submission forms are also available from all Council offices and libraries, or you can phone 0800 492 452 to request one.

The summary of submissions is now available on the Council’s website before closing at 5pm on Monday 14 December 2020. Anyone requesting to be heard will have an opportunity to present their submission in person at the hearings, which are scheduled to start towards the middle of next year.

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