Cromwell's PC 13 Declined - Costs still owed

This media statement has just been released by the Central Otago District Council.

Release of Plan Change 13 Decision – Outstanding Costs

 Central Otago District Council has worked exhaustively to try and recover outstanding processing costs from River Terrace Developments Limited relating to the Plan Change 13 application. To date, those efforts have not been successful.  

Earlier this month Central Otago District Council received a formal objection to the costs of processing the Plan Change 13 request from River Terrace Developments Limited.  The Council agreed to grant an extension providing a legal undertaking with respect to the holding of those funds and conditions for their release and payment upon the objection to fees being determined.  This request was made so that ratepayers had assurance that they wouldn’t need to foot the bill for a private developer’s application if it were defaulted upon. River Terraces Developments Limited has declined to give that undertaking.

We will continue to make every effort to ensure that the processing fees are paid once the outcome of the objection is known. However, on balance, we consider further action at this stage is not in the community interest and would likely also incur significant cost to the ratepayer. We have therefore decided to release the decision.

Release of Plan Change 13 Decision- the commissioners’ decision

The decision made by the commissioners in early November is to not accept the plan change request by River Terrace Developments Limited. Council is well aware that the decision is subject to an appeal period of 30 working days, which ends on 24 February 2020. Notwithstanding, we are pleased that the decision supported our planning consultant’s recommendation, the Council’s further submission to the plan change, and the overwhelming perspective of the community who submitted in large numbers on the application.

The commissioners noted the most compelling reasons for declining the request related to existing noise effects from lawfully established horticulture and motorsport activities that would have adverse effects in terms of nuisance and amenity for the PC 13 site and that it is poorly integrated with the urban form of Cromwell.  The Cromwell Spatial Plan was afforded some weight in the decision and Council feels that it is important to continue that work as part of delivering the Cromwell Masterplan. In 2020 we will be introducing a suite of plan changes to continue that work.

Plan Change 13 Decision (link to PDF)