Rural A Zone
If you want to subdivide or cross-lease property in the Rural A zone of Rotorua District, you need consent from Council.
First, check the maps in the Rotorua District Plan to confirm that your property is located in a Rural A zone, and read the requirements for subdivision in part 16 of the plan. Check your title to see whether there is a consent notice on it that may prevent you from subdividing.
Your surveyor will act on your behalf and submit an application for subdivision consent to Council. Subdivision in the Rural A zone is a discretionary activity under the District Plan. An application may be turned down if the environmental effects are more than minor.
Guidelines
- If your property has more than 30 hectares of usable land, you can subdivide it into two lots provided that each lot has a minimum of 15 hectares of usable land. ‘Usable land’ means land that Council deems suitable for intensive pastoral farming.
- If your property has more than 15.5 hectares of land, you can subdivide out one lifestyle lot of a minimum of 5000 square metres provided you have a balance area of 15 hectares of usable land. A lifestyle lot can have an area of between 5000 square metres and 6 hectares. The 5000 square metres can be reduced to 2500 square metres where this contains an existing house, but there must be a minimum remaining lot of 15 hectares of usable land. To be able to take advantage of the lifestyle lot provisions, your existing lot must have been held in separate title as at 10 June 1994.
- If your property contains more than 75 per cent of land with a class II classification, or its suitability for intensive use has been demonstrated by recognised experts, then the minimum size of any lot can be 5 hectares. However, where the whole lot is not suitable for horticulture, the parent lot must contain a minimum of 15 hectares of usable land.
Other planning matters to consider
To protect the rural character of an area, Council may require you to commission a landscape impact assessment for your proposal, or may require that buildings are only sited on a specified area of the land.
You may be asked to obtain written consent from any landowners who might be affected by your proposal.
On advice from the regional council, Council may require that steep or erodable land or wetlands are fenced out and not stocked or planted with particular species.
If the site is located on a state highway, you will need to obtain Transit New Zealand’s consent.
Conditions of consent
Council may attach conditions to your subdivision consent. These may address matters such as
- reserve contributions - the financial contribution is calculated at 5 percent of the land value of an area of 2000 square metres of that part of the site most suitable for containing a house, regardless of the size of the proposed lot.
- esplanade reserves and strips - requirements depend on the size of the lots created by subdivision.
- engineering requirements - to be discussed with your surveyor and Council’s engineers. These may include earthworks and foundations, vehicle access and access to the land for potential future uses.
Further information
Contact us