Proposed changes to Taupō’s district plan could see more high rise properties popping up in the town centre and larger homes being built in the suburbs.

But, according to Taupō District Council officials, the town won't end up looking like the central North Island's version of Australia’s Gold Coast.

Plan Change 39 covers residential buildings and the size of houses allowed to be built on suburban sections.

Plan Change 40, while split into three parts, seeks to increase maximum building heights for a part of the Taupō town centre, and would also allow for changes to service lanes and the amount of time businesses get to set up and take down temporary facilities (such as tents, awnings and ‘pop-up’ stalls etc) for one-off events.

Residents are being asked to make submissions about the proposed changes to Taupō’s district plan which covers the plan’s overall strategic direction, residential building sizes, the town centre, the removal of outdated fault lines from planning maps, changes to rural and rural lifestyle environments, and industrial land zones.

Plan Change 39 seeks to change the current residential building coverage from 30% to 35% for the majority of urban Taupō.

Building coverage is the amount of space a house can take up on a residential section.

“This increase is responding to the way people are choosing to live, such as larger families looking to live together out of necessity or cultural reasons,” a council report states.

“This is resulting in landowners seeking larger buildings subsequently requiring resource consent to exceed building coverage.

“Resource consent is generally granted for applications exceeding the maximum site coverage, therefore this process is creating unnecessary additional costs and adding time to the development process.”

Plan Change 40 would allow for increased building heights in the Taupō town centre’s pedestrian precinct – the block between Roberts St, Tongariro St, Te Heuheu St and fronting Ruapehu St.

“The increase in maximum height limits provides for greater opportunities for redevelopment and to facilitate a compact town centre,” a council report states.

This plan change also contains amendments to increase the permitted number of operational days where any (single) temporary activity can occur, from three days in any one calendar year, to four days in any six months.

“This change is to support the wealth of functions and events that bring people to the district.”

Senior policy advisor Hilary Samuel said the rules currently allow for three storey buildings, but developers can apply for a consent if they want to build higher.

“The plan as it is does not give enough detail about what heights buildings can be built and where they can be built – this is what the plan change is about.

“Over the past few years we have had applications for larger buildings and have granted consents for buildings that exceed the three-storey threshold.

“Feedback from the business community was that three storeys were not economic to redevelop, they would prefer to go a little bit higher.”

Samuel said with the lakefront redevelopment the council were hoping to see more vibrancy and activity in the area once it was complete.

“We’d like to see some more residential activity in the town ... so you get more consistent activity all year round.

“But it’s not going lead to high rises on the lakefront. We don't want to turn Taupō into a version of Queenstown or the Gold Coast.”

For details about the council’s proposed plan changes visit www.taupodc.govt.nz, email questions to districtplan@taupo.govt.nz, or call (07) 376 0899.

The closing date for submissions is 4.30pm, Friday, December 9.

Credit: stuff.co.nz