The Council is temporarily treating Christchurch's drinking water with chlorine while it upgrades the below ground well heads.
To support the city's recovery, the Resource Management Act processes have been streamlined for businesses and residents relocating to temporary accommodation, and construction depots and storage yards needed for earthquake rebuild work.
As a result of the earthquakes many people and businesses can no longer live or work in their usual homes or premises. Thousands of displaced people have already relocated or will need to relocate to temporary accommodation while their homes and businesses are being repaired or rebuilt. Construction depots are also needed around the city for rebuilding purposes.
The Christchurch District Plan allows temporary accommodation as a permitted activity if it complies with the rules in Chapter 6 of the Plan. These vary depending on the type of temporary accommodation and the zoning of the property. If the rules cannot be met, approval is needed from the Council.
There are two options for obtaining approval:
For both types of approval, all other statutory requirements and regulations (e.g. building consent, liquor licensing) still stand and need to follow the normal processes.
The Canterbury Earthquake (Resource Management Act Permitted Activities) Order 2011(external link) was passed in March 2011 to enable the Council to permit temporary accommodation for displaced people and businesses that would otherwise not comply with the District Plan. The Order has an expiry date of 30 June 2021. Any temporary accommodation established under this legislation can therefore only remain on site until that date unless it complies with the District Plan, or a resource consent has been obtained.
The Council has put in place a special streamlined process to decide whether an activity is suitable for the location:
A Site Specific Approval must be obtained from the Council
Policy for Temporary Accommodation [PDF, 15 KB]
Please note that the legislation only covers properties within the greater Christchurch area. This includes all of Christchurch City and the Lyttelton Harbour basin around to and including Diamond Harbour, but excludes most of Banks Peninsula.
The Christchurch District Plan provides for temporary uses and temporary buildings for workers’ accommodation. This provides greater certainty for accommodation providers, councils and communities and will help to facilitate the provision of suitable accommodation to meet the needs of rebuild workers. The relevant rules are outlined in Section 6.4.5 of the District Plan.
If you have any questions or require further information please email the Duty Planner.