Our team at Incite is highly skilled and experienced in policy and plan development for both regional and district plans.
This page provides examples of district plan projects we have been involved in, sometimes in a leadership role, others in partnership with the organisation involved. Please do get in touch with us if you would like to know more about our work.
Several of Incite’s team have been involved in preparing and presenting Section 42A reports to the Hearing Panel on the proposed Marlborough Environment Plan. These have covered a broad range of topics including indigenous biodiversity, rural areas, utilities, discharges, forestry and land disturbance.
Incite were part of a group of planners who assisted Regenerate Christchurch in 2018 in preparing the Christchurch District Plan provisions that formed part of the draft Regeneration Plan for the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor. This involved working alongside other planners, including those representing the Christchurch City Council and Ngāi Tahu, to develop a set of plan provisions that would facilitate the vision and objectives set out in the draft Regeneration Plan. Adding to the challenge of working under alternate legislation to the Resource Management Act, was working to deliver the draft Plan to the Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration within a very tight timeframe.
In the early stages of the Hurunui District Plan review process, Incite was engaged to undertake a project leadership role, stepping in after the responsible staff member resigned. We provided project oversight and led councillor workshops on plan development, peer reviewed the drafting of provisions and section 32 reports and oversaw the section 42A reporting. This required working alongside Council planners, assisting them to develop their analysis and reporting skills, while ensuring the end products were well-reasoned and defensible. As well as presenting at the hearing, we also helped other authors to prepare for the hearing and coordinated the final response to the hearings panel. Following appeals on the Council decision, Incite staff were engaged to act as the Council’s expert planning witnesses at Environment Court mediation. All appeals were settled at mediation.
Incite was engaged to draft plan provisions and the section 32 report for the commercial and industrial chapters of the proposed Selwyn District Plan, based on technical recommendations and preliminary directions from the relevant Council Committee. This involved working alongside Council staff to ensure the detail of the provisions were fit-for-purpose and addressed existing implementation issues.
Incite has assisted with drafting plan provisions and the section 32 reports for the commercial, noise, versatile soils and contaminated land chapters of the proposed Plan. This involved taking initial direction from the Council and translating this into Plan provisions, following the specific drafting process set up by Timaru District Council. The quality of our drafting, as well as our ability to work effectively and flexibly within the established systems led to us undertaking work on multiple topics.
Incite has been assisting the Otago Regional Council in relation to appeals on Stages 1 and 2 of the proposed Queenstown Lakes District Plan. This role is focussed on providing advice and evidence in relation to whether the Plan’s provisions appropriately give effect to the operative and proposed Regional Policy Statements. Our staff have attended a number of mediations and has provided evidence on the Topic 1, 3 and 4 hearings.
Farmers Corner is an established tourist retail and restaurant business located on State Highway 1, in the rural area, south of Ashburton. To facilitate their wish to expand their tourism operations to offer rural-based visitor accommodation, Incite prepared a private plan change to the Ashburton District Plan. This involved identifying, engaging and managing technical inputs required, and liaising with the Council to establish the best planning framework. Throughout the drafting, further information and hearing stages, Incite responded to concerns raised by council officers and submitters, while ensuring the planning framework would still achieve the client’s vision. The plan change was approved in November 2020.
