A property can look perfect for a development on paper. It might be in the right location, have plenty of space and appear suitable for what you have planned. But what you can actually do with the land is influenced by a much wider set of planning rules.
Zoning, overlays, existing consents and other site-specific controls can all shape what is possible. Before buying a site or investing too heavily in a design, it is worth getting a clearer picture of the planning environment around the property.
Early due diligence can help answer a fairly simple but important question: does this site actually work for what you want to do?
It can be tempting to begin with a concept and work backwards, particularly when a site appears well suited to a particular development.
Planning investigations take the opposite approach.
First, establish what applies to the land. Then look at how the proposed development fits within those controls.
In New Zealand, district plans contain many of the rules that influence land use and subdivision. Regional planning provisions can also become relevant depending on the location, environment and work proposed.
The aim at this stage is not necessarily to answer every question about the project. It is to identify the planning factors that could influence what happens next.
Zoning is usually one of the first things to check, but the zone name only tells part of the story.
The relevant planning provisions need to be looked at alongside the type and scale of development being considered. Rules can influence how a site is used and the form that development can take.
For example, a property within a residential zone may provide opportunities for additional housing, but that does not automatically mean every residential proposal will fit within the applicable planning rules.
The proposed scale, layout and use of the site still matter.
For a residential development, this could influence the number and arrangement of homes being considered. For a commercial development, the proposed activity and its effects may be just as important as the building itself.
Two properties can sit in the same zone and still have very different development potential.
One reason is that additional planning controls may apply to individual properties or particular areas. Depending on the relevant plan, these can include overlays, precincts, designations or other mapped features.
They may relate to matters such as:
natural hazards or flooding
heritage or culturally significant places
significant ecological areas
landscapes or coastal environments
infrastructure and public works
Not every mapped feature will prevent development. Some may simply introduce additional rules, assessments or design considerations.
The important part is knowing they are there before relying on the site's zoning alone.
Once the relevant planning rules are understood, they can be compared with the proposed development.
Some activities can proceed without resource consent when all relevant permitted activity requirements are met. Other proposals require consent because of the type of activity involved or because part of the design does not comply with an applicable rule or standard.
This is where the details of the project start to matter.
A change to a building's position, the intensity of a development or the way a site is accessed could alter the planning assessment. Even relatively small design changes can sometimes affect which rules are triggered.
If resource consent is likely to be required, that becomes an important consideration when planning the next stages of the project.
A property's planning history can be just as useful as understanding the current rules.
Previous resource consents may show what has already been approved and the conditions attached to that approval. It is also worth establishing whether the consent was implemented and how it relates to what currently exists on the property.
Existing activities deserve attention too.
Something operating legally on a site today does not necessarily mean the same activity could simply be established again under the current planning rules. In some situations, an older activity may have existing use rights because it was lawfully established before the current rules applied.
That distinction can become particularly important when purchasing a property because of its current use.
Not every constraint is immediately obvious when visiting a site.
A designation, for example, can identify land for a public work or infrastructure purpose. Depending on what the designation covers, it may affect how part of the property can be developed or used.
Other restrictions may only become apparent once planning maps, title information, council records and previous approvals are reviewed together.
This is one reason property investigations should go further than checking the address on an online planning map. The useful question is not simply "are there restrictions?" but "what do these restrictions mean for this particular proposal?"
Planning is not only about getting approval at the end of the design process.
The information uncovered during early investigations can influence the design itself.
Imagine a developer is considering several new dwellings on a site. The initial concept may look achievable based on the site's area, but further investigation could identify controls affecting part of the property. That may change where buildings can reasonably sit, how access is arranged or how much of the site is practical to develop.
For a larger project, those changes can influence development yield and feasibility.
A good planning review should therefore give the wider project team useful information to work with, rather than simply producing a list of rules.
Planning maps and district plan provisions are important, but they should not always be looked at in isolation.
Depending on the property and the proposal, useful information may also come from:
council property records and previous consent documents
a Land Information Memorandum (LIM)
the record of title and any relevant interests recorded against it
previous survey or development information
reports prepared for earlier projects on the property
The relevance of each document depends on what you are trying to do.
If an existing building is being redeveloped, its consent and property history may be particularly important. If a largely undeveloped property is being considered for subdivision, a different set of information may become more useful.
That is often the best time to start asking planning questions.
You do not need a finished design to investigate whether a site is suitable for a particular idea.
A developer might initially want to know if a property has potential for several homes. A business may be considering whether a site could accommodate a new commercial activity. A landowner may simply want to understand what options exist before deciding what to do with the property.
At this stage, planning work can focus on the site's opportunities and constraints rather than the finer details of a consent application.
The findings can then help shape the concept, determine which investigations should happen next and provide a more realistic basis for decisions about the property.
Every site comes with its own planning context. What matters is understanding how that context relates to the development you actually have in mind.
Civix can review the relevant planning provisions, property information and proposed development to build a clearer picture of what may be achievable. That gives landowners, developers and project teams useful information to work with before progressing further into design and consenting.
A property can look perfect for a development on paper. It might be in the right location, have plenty of space and appear suitable for what you have planned.
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Two properties can look almost identical but have very different development potential.
READ MORE Finding out that a project needs resource consent is only the beginning.
READ MORE Some developments move through the planning process relatively smoothly. Others require more investigation, supporting reports, consultation or changes to the design before consent can be granted.
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READ MORE For private land developments, Civix Town Planners, Chartered Engineers and Licensed Cadastral Surveyors have got you covered from the initial site visit through to council sign off.
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