Evidence received and decisions of the Independent Hearings Panel on the Christchurch Replacement District Plan.

Independent Hearings Panel

The Independent Hearings Panel was appointed, in accordance with the Canterbury Earthquake (Christchurch Replacement District Plan) Order 2014, to hear submissions and make decisions on the Proposed Christchurch Replacement District Plan, including Banks Peninsula, to facilitate the recovery and development of Christchurch.

The functions of the panel closed on 30 January 2018. Read the final message from Chairperson Sir John Hansen [PNG, 384 KB].

The panel

The panel was chaired by The Honourable Sir John Hansen, a former High Court Judge.

In addition, the panel members were Environment Judge John Hassan (Deputy Chairperson), The Honourable Lester Chisholm, Sarah Dawson, Jane Huria, Dr Phil Mitchell, John Sax, John Illingsworth (alternate), Martin Udale (alternate), Alec Neill (alternate), Gerard Willis (alternate) and Stephen Daysh (alternate).

Submissions

The plan was notified in stages with the first stage being notified on 27 August 2014. By the end of the substantive hearing process in December 2016, the panel had considered 4848 submissions covering 48,091 submission points.

Hearings

The panel held hearings on submissions received on the Christchurch Replacement District Plan proposals.

The hearings were grouped into topics and chapters to align with the proposals, such as strategic directions, natural hazards and coastal environment. All hearings and pre-hearing meetings were open to the public and the media as observers. However, only submitters who stated in their submission that they wished to be heard were allowed to speak.

View a complete list of proposals by stages [PDF, 191 KB].

Decisions

All decisions were issued by the panel and notified by the Christchurch City Council.

The panel delivered 134 decisions in total. The first batch of decisions was released on 16 February 2015 and the final substantive decision was released on 16 December 2016. A number of minor corrections decisions followed during 2017 with the last being released on 6 November 2017.

View a complete list of decisions collated by decision number [PDF, 288 KB].

Operative

The Replacement District Plan became operative on 19 December 2017.

The Christchurch District Plan was intended to provide a clear direction for the rebuilding and recovery of the greater Christchurch district. The Coastal hazards provisions were withdrawn from the process as explained in the public notice(external link).

View the Christchurch District Plan(external link).

Need more information?

If you have any queries about the Independent Hearings Panel or require any further documentation, please contact the City Planning team by email to planchange@ccc.govt.nz or phone 03 941 8999.