Higher-density housing push

More houses could be built on smaller sections in central Richmond with moves to change the planning rules.

The Tasman District Council has been investigating the demand for medium-density housing in Richmond and how best to encourage it.

Over the past year, the councilappointed Richmond Residential Advisory Group has been helping investigate where and how higherdensity housing should be managed.

The advisory group’s report was presented to the TDC’s environment and planning committee last week and stressed the need for a simple and flexible planning process.

‘‘Many genuine projects are abandoned due to the prohibitive cost of the notification and hearing process,’’ the group’s report says.

Advisory group member Mike Murphy, a developer and former real estate agent, told the committee members that many people were buying sections ‘‘they don’t really want’’.

Many elderly residents no longer wanted to have large yards to maintain. Single-person households, young couples and the active over-50s also sought options other than the ‘‘quarter-acre section’’.

‘‘We don’t cater for them,’’ Murphy said.

Changes to the ‘‘antiquated sys- tem’’ would encourage developers to provide more options. Traditional sections of 600 square metres to 700sqm ‘‘could become sections of 350sqm and give people what they want’’.

The group’s report says ‘‘priority areas’’ should be identified. The Croucher Street ‘‘character area’’ is mentioned ‘‘where known demand exists’’.

Cr Michael Higgins was part of the advisory group and told his fellow council representatives that ‘‘the economics don’t stack up’’ for developers at the moment.

‘‘As a council, we have to make it happen,’’ Higgins said.

Murphy said the demand was for single houses.

‘‘Until people say ‘I want to live in an apartment’, why would you build them.’’ A lot of people also wanted to live close to the mall and library.

Committee chairman Stuart Bryant said community feedback had confirmed a desire for higherdensity options.

As a result, the council had agreed to consult with the community with the aim of beginning the formal process to change the rules in the Tasman Resource Management Plan by mid 2016.

Higher-density housing was already provided for in the Richmond South and Richmond West development areas on the outskirts of town ‘‘and this process will improve on the existing provisions for central Richmond’’.

The major impediment to greater intensification across the district was the limitations of the stormwater network. Therefore, the initial plans would focus on the parts of Richmond where stormwater modelling had been undertaken.

The council would also look to update its planning and zoning rules within the Richmond CBD, and intended to seek public feedback.

The council is also planning to change the rules governing residential building coverage to allow buildings to cover 40 per cent of the site, up from 33 per cent, in Richmond, Motueka, Brightwater and Wakefield. Public consultation on this change will begin in late November, along with rezoning opportunities in Wakefield and Brightwater.