On 27 February 2025, Property Council submitted on Hamilton City Council Plan Change 14. Plan Change 14 makes changes to the District Plan to ensure that as Hamilton grows, new developments are resilient to flooding caused by extreme weather.
In brief
Property Council supports aspects of Plan Change 14, as it is important to avoid flooding risk where possible. However, we are concerned that provisions of Plan Change 14 will result in unintended consequences for Hamilton. Most significantly, without ensuring the accuracy of proposed changes and established processes for landowners or developers to apply for changes, it will create uncertainty for the property sector.
Property Council recommends that Hamilton City Council:
- Either retain flood mapping in the District Plan or develop a dynamic and cost-efficient pathway for property owners to apply to change their flood hazard classification before GIS changes occur;
- Assess the wider costs associated with the implementation of Plan Change 14, with a focus on insurance costs;
- Amend the transaction costs for developers and council in Table 3, Option A – Non-statutory maps is increased from “moderate” to “high”;
- Table 5 be amended to “moderate/high” to accurately reflect the Council’s analysis and adopt Option A status quo for Managing Low Flood Hazards;
- Delay the decision on Managing Medium Flood Hazards until proper analysis is undertaken on the impact on development potential and transaction costs for developers and council;
- Collaborates with the private sector to adopt a more permissive approach to engineering, planning and infrastructure solutions that mitigate hazard risk; and
- Enable additional housing supply in areas of Hamilton without flooding risk