Feedback sought on rezoning Roxburgh Crescent
Published on 18 November 2022
We're proposing to rezone Roxburgh Crescent in Hokowhitu from industrial to residential and are keen to hear your feedback.
Roxburgh Crescent is an industrial pocket of the Hokowhitu suburb, sandwiched between the river and neighbouring homes. It has been identified as a future growth area for housing since 2018, with the idea initiated by the main landowner.
We're planning for medium density housing in the rezoned area to ensure the land gets used efficiently. This means Proposed Plan Change E: Roxburgh Crescent Residential Area would allow a minimum lot size of 150m2 and a maximum of 400m2, enabling a wider range of housing types on smaller lots of land.
We’re also proposing to allow new homes of up to 3 storeys, meaning houses in Roxburgh Crescent could have views over the Manawatū River.
Chief Planning Officer David Murphy says this is a rare opportunity for Palmerston North, as it’s not often that large sites within the city become available for housing redevelopment.
“Hokowhitu was earmarked for urban growth during the early 1900s but housing never quite made it as far as Roxburgh Crescent. This gave the opportunity for industrial activities to be established here around the 1950s.
"Over time housing eventually reached and surrounded the industrial area, making it an unusual feature within the suburb. Rezoning Roxburgh Crescent will enable new homes and help remove heavy industrial traffic from local roads."
Existing industrial activities will be able to continue to operate at the same scale under existing use rights. They will also have the option to develop their sites for housing or sell to a housing developer if they want to.
Part of the proposed plan change is to provide a new entrance for the public to access the Manawatū River from Roxburgh Crescent.
This would be done through the land swap of a small piece of reserve currently used as a buffer between industrial activities and housing at the southern end. The reserve area would be shifted to the middle of the new housing area and used as a public thoroughfare to the river pathway. This would be done in a separate process to the main plan change, under the Reserves Act 1977.
We'll consult formally on this change to our District Plan next year, but your early feedback will help to shape our final proposal. Fill in our online form by 5pm on Friday 9 December to tell us what you think. You can find the form and more information about Proposed Plan Change E at pncc.govt.nz/roxburgh