Changes to Taupō District Plan Carparking Requirements

The National Policy Statement Urban Development (NPSUD) was gazetted by central government in 2020 and requires local authorities to make changes to their district plans. One of these changes involves the removal of onsite car parking requirements. This is to support the objective of the NPSUD to enable a greater supply of housing.

One of these changes involves the removal of onsite carparking requirements to support the objective of the NPSUD which is to enable a greater supply of housing.

The removal of onsite carparking requirements now allows an area of a property to be used for an alternative purpose, such as additional housing, rather than carparking for business or residential activities. Developers and landowners can still provide onsite carparking if they choose. To ensure carparking still works efficiently and effectively, carparking spaces will still need to be designed in accordance with the standards of the district plan for dimensions and manoeuvring.

Staff have gone through the plan and identified the parts that need to be removed to meet the requirements of the NPSUD. This updated version of the plan can be viewed here: https://taupo.isoplan.co.nz/eplan

The plan change process can be undertaken without using Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The updated sections are 3s, 3u, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4g, 4h, 4i, and Section 6: Parking, Loading and Access and Section 10: Definitions.

A public notice will circulate in both the Taupō Times and the Taupō and Turangi Weekender this week as required by the RMA. Staff have also prepared additional correspondence for internal staff and those groups/members of the community who are frequent users of the District Plan such as planning consultants.

If you have any questions, please contact our policy team at districtplan@taupo.govt.nz.