We’re updating the part of the District Plan that identifies and protects designations, the area of land to be designated for important public infrastructure and services, across Palmerston North. And we want to know what you think.
These designations include important public service assets such as roads, rail, schools, utilities, and stopbanks that are owned and administered by councils, central government, and utility operators known as ‘Requiring Authorities’.
Designations help ensure public services can operate safely, be maintained properly, and expand when needed to support the city’s growth and make it more resilient.
When looking at the new and changed designations in this plan change, Council is not the decision-maker. Instead, it can only make recommendations to the requiring authority unless the requiring authority is the Council itself. These recommendations can be to confirm the requirement, to modify it, to impose conditions, or to withdraw the requirement altogether.
Before making any recommendations, we want to hear from you.
Make a submission
What are the Proposed District Plan changes?
This plan change proposes changes to Section 24 - Designations of the District Plan, to:
- Remove existing designations that are no longer needed
- Update unclear wording in existing designations to more accurately reflect their intended purpose
- Fix mapping errors, including any inaccurate designation boundaries
- Add a small number of new designations
- Improve consistency with the national planning standards
These updates will help ensure that the District Plan better reflects how infrastructure is used today and enable what may be needed in the future.
Read more about Proposed PC Tahi(PDF, 2MB)
You can also read about the current Operative District Plan – Section 24: Designations(PDF, 4MB)
Check where the changes apply
You can see the proposed designation updates on the webmap below.
- Pink dashed lines show modified or updated designation boundaries
- Blue lines show existing designations
- Dashed blue lines show proposed new designations
Tip: zoom in or use the search bar to see if your property is affected. Please note the map may be slow to load on some devices.
Making it easier to look after infrastructure
These proposed changes aim to help keep the District Plan up to date and support the infrastructure our city relies on every day. Clearer wording and more accurate maps make it easier to understand where designations apply. These changes will help infrastructure providers maintain and upgrade key services more efficiently, ensuring the city is well prepared for future growth and development.
One of the proposed changes is to update the designation mapping to include all of the existing city-wide network of stopbanks. Horizons Regional Council is seeking these updates to strengthen flood resilience by ensuring clear access for maintenance and upgrades.
Keeping designations accurate and clear helps ensure the city's services continue to run smoothly, both now and in the future. Most people won’t notice any day-to-day differences, but the updates should also provide property owners and the wider community with clearer, more transparent planning information.
Make a submission by 4pm, 28 May
The proposed plan change will be publicly notified, which means anyone can make a submission. You can fill in the submission form below, or pick up a hard copy submission form from the Council Customer Service Centre or any of our community libraries.
Click here to view form.