Rezoning Roxburgh Crescent

Submissions closed. Hearing will be held on 20 and 21 May 2025.

Detail from an artist's impression showing homes looking out over the river.

We're proposing to rezone land at Roxburgh Crescent from industrial to residential to enable new homes to be built.

We're working on the proposed rezoning of Roxburgh Crescent, to change it from industrial to residential zone in the District Plan. We are also proposing to classify a piece of land that we own to part Local Purpose (Road) Reserve and part Recreation, under the Reserves Act 1977.

Submissions and further submissions closed in late 2024. A hearing of submissions on the proposed plan change will be held on 20 and 21 May. A final decisionis expected to be made later on in 2025.

Download and read hearing documents

Why we’re planning to rezone Roxburgh Crescent

Roxburgh Crescent has been identified as a future growth area for housing since 2018, with the idea initiated by the main landowner. It is not often that large sites within the city become available for housing redevelopment.

The area is currently mostly zoned industrial and occupied by businesses like the former Higgins Depot. Rezoning the area from industrial to residential may help to meet the growing demand for homes in Palmy.

The land is suited for housing as it is flat, centrally located, and has access to green spaces, public transport, schools and local shops. A Structure Plan has been designed to guide development in Roxburgh Crescent so that it fits in well with the surrounding area.

As part of the proposed plan change, a key stormwater pipeline would be widened under the area to ensure our water infrastructure has the capacity to service the extra demand.

We listened to your feedback and we've made some changes

We ask for feedback before formal notification so that we can hear what the community thinks and factor this in as we put the plan together. The first phase of community engagement closed in late 2022, and we held a second round in late 2023.

Based on your feedback and early indicators from our stormwater team for this project, we've made some changes which include:

Increasing the minimum lot size for each individual property from 150m² to 250m² to cater for stormwater standards, and
Rather than allowing 3-storey homes throughout the plan change area, we will now only enable homes of up to 3 storeys in the area directly behind the stop bank. This was done based on feedback and would provide a softer transition in height from the new residential area to existing homes in the surrounding area.
Allow homes up to 2 storeys in height where they adjoin existing houses.

Technical assessments

We have completed the following technical assessments and can be viewed below: 

Proposal includes new river access

As part of the plan change for Roxburgh Crescent, an existing entrance that is not currently available to the public to access the Manawatū River from Roxburgh Crescent will be opened up.

In addition Council and the Department of Conservation have approved a reserve exchange that will enhance this river access by making it bigger and providing space for amenities like trees and seats.

The reserve exchange has been consulted on and approved by Council and the Department of Conservation and is subject to the plan change proceeding.