The Wellington region will moved to Orange Level on Friday 3 December.
Read morePlease access our enquiry form below.
Bin Enquiry FormIn November 2014 we released a discussion document on how changes could be made to the existing planning policies and rules for the Epuni, Waterloo and Lower Hutt CBD edge area. This would provide additional opportunities for residential growth within Lower Hutt, as sought by the 2012-2032 Urban Growth Strategy.
The Lower Hutt CBD edge, Waterloo and Epuni were identified as particularly suitable for residential growth in the Urban Growth Strategy due to their:
Options included creating a new Residential Growth zone, which allows for a wide range of housing styles from standalone houses, semi-detached houses, townhouses and two- to three-storey apartments. It was proposed that three-storey buildings be restricted to larger sites only.
This document can be downloaded here as one larger document or in three smaller parts.
Take a look at a map showing the draft suggested boundary for the Residential Growth zone (PDF 392 kb)
You can pick up a hard copy of the above documents from Council at 30 Laings Road, Lower Hutt. You can also request a hard copy by calling 04 570 6666 or emailing growth@huttcity.govt.nz
We received 58 submissions (including one late submission) on the Discussion Document. The majority of submitters (37 or 64%) identified themselves as residing within the draft suggested Residential Growth zone. Submissions were also received from residents residing in other parts of the Hutt and the wider Wellington region, local businesses, Central Community Committee, New Zealand Transport Agency, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Housing New Zealand.
Submitters demonstrated a wide diversity of viewpoints ranging from strong concern to strong support to changes suggested in the Discussion Document. A very large number of issues were raised by submitters covering a wide range of matters.
The ‘Overview of the Summary of Submissions’ identifies those issues of greatest interest or concern to submitters. The more detailed ‘Summary of Submissions’ identifies the issues, comments and suggestions raised by individual submitters for a number of topics.
If you like to view a copy of written submissions made by submitters, please contact growth@huttcity.govt.nz
In order to increase feedback to Council, we ran other consultation activities:
25 people (including 17 submitters) attended a workshop on 3 February 2015 to discuss concerns held, and whether they saw any benefits and costs arising from residential intensification (increased housing densities). This workshop was independently facilitated by Andrew Guerin of Boffa Miskell Planning Consultancy.
Comments recorded at the workshop by Council officers (PDF 84 kb).
Peter Glen Research has also been engaged to carry out additional quantitative and qualitative research on public attitudes to the Discussion Document. This includes a focus group discussion, individual interviews and a survey of 100 residents living within Epuni, Waterloo and the Lower Hutt CBD edge area. This research was useful in collecting feedback from local residents who did not make a submission to the Discussion Document.
Survey results were released at the 9 March 2015 Policy and Regulatory Committee meeting.
Notice of the release of Qualitative Survey Results was given at the 28 April 2015 Policy and Regulatory Committee Meeting.
We held two open forums at Waterloo Plunket Centre on 4 and 6 December 2014. These forums were attending by approximately 25 people.
The purpose of the open forums was to provide an opportunity for local residents and workers to view information about possible changes to their neighbourhood, ask questions and provide comments on these changes in an informal setting. Officers were on hand to provide additional information or explanation.
Details of other methods employed by Council to raise awareness of the Discussion Document can be provided upon request.
Members of the Policy and Regulatory Committee were made aware at the 28 April 2015 meeting of the release of the Qualitative Research report prepared by Peter Glen Research Ltd and associated overview prepared by Council officers.