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9 Other initiatives

Many submitters suggested initiatives which could be applied either instead of, or in addition to, an NPS. There was a high degree of support for the existing Urban Design Protocol resources. Additional initiatives suggested included:

  • other RMA-based changes, such as amendments to Part 2 of the Act and the use of national environmental standards

  • sharing best practice case studies on urban design

  • promoting the use of particular urban design tools, such as structure plans

  • encouraging urban design review at the local and national level

  • investigating urban development agencies.

9.1 Support for the Urban Design Protocol

Most submitters supported the Urban Design Protocol and suite of resources the Ministry for the Environment has developed to support the protocol’s implementation. Most wanted to see this work continued or expanded regardless of whether an NPS eventuated. Many submitters believed the seven Cs (urban design principles) in the protocol were useful and were contributing to providing national guidance on making towns and cities more successful through quality urban design.

Submitter 108 stated:

We feel the MfE has made significant progress and delivered very positive outcomes nationwide through its work on the Urban Design Protocol, and general capacity building of urban design skills and understanding.

Similarly, submitter 89 recognised:

…the excellent work of the Ministry both through the Urban Design Protocol work and the preparation of other guidance and case studies.

Submitter 39 stated the main barriers to quality urban design outcomes in New Zealand were a lack of education about what urban design entailed and its value, and a lack of skilled council staff and developers. In particular, they considered:

…successful implementation of the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol is the most effective way in which to provide national guidance to address these barriers.

Submitter 87 sought to maintain a distinction between the role of the Urban Design Protocol and that of an NPS and suggested, although they were mutually complementary, their roles were quite different:

…the Protocol should retain its present very broad, all-embracing focus, in keeping with its aim of encouraging learning and a greater understanding of what constitutes best practice urban design…The non-statutory basis of the Protocol is its great advantage in this, because it enables new ideas to be ‘floated’, discussed, and views on those ideas to be exchanged.

Submitter 6 suggested an NPS should actually require nationwide participation in the Urban Design Protocol.

A small number of submitters also considered it would be better to focus scarce central government resources on the non-statutory approach embodied in the protocol, rather than an NPS. (This is discussed in further detail in sections 3.1 and 3.2.) For example, submitter 95 stated:

The Ministry for the Environment has already identified a wide range of urban design qualities in its various publications and the use of these should be encouraged rather than replaced by an NPS.

9.2 Include urban design in Part 2 of the RMA

Several submitters suggested Part 2 of the RMA should be amended to better reflect the importance of urban design and its role in promoting the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Most suggestions were for urban design to be included either as a matter of national importance in section 6, or in section 7 as a matter to which particular regard must be had.

Submitter 44 questioned the purpose of an NPS. In particular, they observed if the key concern was statutory recognition of urban design:

…then including urban design in the Act itself as a section 6 matter of national importance, would provide stronger statutory recognition of urban design.

Similarly, submitter 52 considered:

…recognition of urban design within the Act itself, rather than a statutory instrument under the Act, would more appropriately recognise the importance of urban design. It would also make it clear that the Act is not just a natural resources act, but that it is explicitly relevant to New Zealand’s urban areas.

Submitter 24 suggested adding a new section to the RMA along the lines of section 8, where the importance of a locally developed statement of urban design principles was required to be taken into account:

In achieving the purpose of this Act, all persons exercising functions and powers under it, in relation to managing the use, development, and protection of natural and physical resources, shall take into account the urban design principles set out in a locally prepared and agreed spatial framework/strategy.

9.3 National environmental standards

Submitter 24 advocated a “switch from a policy-led approach to a consent-trigger approach”. They suggested, instead of an NPS, a national environmental standard be developed which required certain types of developments (for example, multi-unit residential and large commercial developments) to obtain a resource consent, subject to an urban design assessment.

Submitter 112 also proposed a national environmental standard. They considered that a national environmental standard on “containing metropolitan expansion of urban areas on to rural land” should be explored.

9.4 Best practice

Many submitters suggested the promotion of best practice in urban design in New Zealand would be a helpful initiative, regardless of whether or not an NPS was developed. Many submitters acknowledged the work of the Ministry for the Environment in sourcing and publicising case studies, and other examples of best practice. Submitters stated many of those involved in implementing urban design would benefit from best practice promotion. In particular, it was important for case studies or examples of best practice to consider the views of local government, developers and professionals, such as architects and planners.

A few submitters considered a web-based database of urban design resources and outcomes would be helpful and could go part way to addressing the shortage of urban design skills in New Zealand. Others advocated for further general information on urban design (including what it is and its benefits and values), tailored to targeted audiences (for example, developers, councillors, architects, builders and members of the public).

At least one submitter mentioned the possibility of developing further quality planning guidance notes on particular issues (for example, integrating transport and land use planning, energy benefits and urban design). Submitter 23 thought best practice guidelines would assist in defining the roles of different levels of government:

The development of best practice guidelines to complement the NPS may assist councils understanding their responsibilities and knowing how to implement these. This might be beneficial if there are different expectations of different bodies, for instance a regional council may be expected to contribute to urban design in a different way to that of a territorial authority. Best practice guidelines and examples may help these bodies to start to implement urban design projects as well as to get the thinking about other ways they might do this.

A small number of submitters thought specific parties had an important role to play in best practice promotion:

Major landowners and developers should demonstrate best practice in urban design and through their developments influence and educate the public. (63)

Central government agencies need to take more leadership in their own developments. (89)

9.5 Urban design tools

Several specific urban design tools were suggested by submitters to promote and/or mandate improved urban design outcomes. Examples included:

  • structure plans

  • mandatory design assessments with all resource consent applications

  • town centre strategies

  • mainstreet programmes

  • infrastructure management plans

  • urban design strategies

  • master plans

  • design guidelines

  • assessment criteria

  • regional growth strategies

  • social impact assessments for all large developments

  • health impact assessments

  • three-dimensional modelling (to demonstrate anticipated policy outcomes in district plans and for significant projects)

  • pilot projects

  • building typologies

  • strategic planning.

9.6 Design review

A few submitters were supportive of the use of design review at both the local and national level. Of these, a number had had positive experiences of participating in or with one of the existing urban design panels, and many wanted to see this practice extended. Design panels were viewed as a collaborative approach, with councils working with the development community to enable good design outcomes:

Territorial authorities are increasingly using urban design panels as a means of informing and advancing design outcomes that reflect the ... Urban Design Protocol. (55)

Submitters saw central government assistance in setting up design panels and/or providing a design review service as part of a package which could assist small councils. For example, submitter 24 suggested a government-funded service along the lines of the United Kingdom’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE):

Add to this some form of assistance from central government for smaller councils to assess bigger applications, then the path of implementation may be easier. In this regard I note that CABE in England runs a design review service. Could a similar service be offered to councils on a subsidised basis?

Submitter 79 suggested urban design panels should also include heritage expertise because panels often dealt with heritage-related proposals.

9.7 Urban development agencies

Three submitters suggested further investigation and encouragement of the development agency model used extensively overseas. They noted there are several barriers to establishing development agencies in New Zealand, but that this kind of tool was necessary for dealing with large-scale urban change, especially in existing urban areas and where there was multiple land ownership. Submitter 3 suggested there were advantages in having such agencies because they were independent of the political cycle:

... the best examples of urban design outcomes have been achieved through the governing bodies setting up urban design (or development) agencies to work independently of the cyclical political process … They can enable urban design professionals to respond to local conditions … they will create a dynamic process that involves people at a ‘grass roots’ level…

Submitter 96 said “central government might explore the possibility of establishing jointly funded urban development agencies to implement integrated urban regeneration programmes”. In the submitter’s view, this kind of government assistance would better support councils because “it is in the area of implementation, rather than policy, that councils are struggling with in achieving good urban design”.

A few submitters noted the establishment of urban development agencies was one of the options identified in the Department of Internal Affairs’ discussion document Building Sustainable Urban Communities.

9.8 Developer-based initiatives

A small number of submitters thought developer-driven initiatives, or those aimed specifically at the development community, would have an immediate impact on urban design outcomes. Some mentioned this approach would be of benefit if it was a collaborative one between councils and developers. For example:

…TLAs [territorial local authorities] to take more leadership in establishing the institutional framework for development, with which private developers are provided with opportunity and a requirement to deliver a much higher standard of design performance. (36)

Two submitters (55 and 83) suggested an urban design rating system which could be used to evaluate projects in terms of urban design. Submitter 55 envisaged a tool developed by the local government sector and property industry along the lines of the green star rating tool developed by the New Zealand Green Building Council:

…an industry guide which would inform best practice thinking in relation to the design of products within the built environment. An industry guide would be a useful tool in assessing how a development project adds to the functionality of the urban environment from a design perspective.

Other incentive-based initiatives suggested included more streamlined consent processing for those who undertook good design (88), and central government grants to offset development contributions for developments that exceeded specified urban design principles (submitter 83).

9.9 Guidelines

Many submitters suggested there was a role for non-statutory guidelines, either as an alternative to an NPS or as a separate, more technical document (assuming a high-level principles-based NPS was put in place). These guidelines would take an outcomes approach and represent best practice, or, alternatively, as suggested by one submitter “a minimum urban design approach” (submitter 103).

Submitter 74 recommended that these guidelines could include:

…a range of guidelines for building types, that could either be sourced by local councils as appropriate, or used as templates for their own documents.

Submitters also suggested that guidelines on how to incorporate urban design principles, standards and so on into district plans would be at least as useful as a national policy statement.

Specific topics for other guidelines included streetscape issues and integrating infrastructure with land use.

9.10 Alternative models

Many submitters referred to alternative approaches to improving the quality of urban design. Several referred to the United Kingdom’s Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) – Delivering Sustainable Development, or its predecessor PPG1, as a useful model that could be adopted in New Zealand. A few indicated they preferred the more broad-based approach to urban development issues being taken by the Department of Internal Affairs in its Building Sustainable Urban Communities discussion document.

A number of submitters suggested using the principles contained in other relevant urban design related documents as a basis for developing an NPS. These included:

  • People+Places+Spaces developed by the Ministry for the Environment

  • the core elements set out in the Ministry for the Environment’s The Value of Urban Design

  • the Commission for Architecture and Built Environment’s By Design – Urban design in the planning system

  • the Congress for the New Urbanism’s principles.

9.11 Other initiatives

Other initiatives mentioned included:

  • establishing a New Zealand equivalent of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment

  • spelling out the role of the different parties involved in implementing urban design

  • professional development opportunities and further training (discussed in section 8.3 in further detail)

  • councillor training

  • a national certification programme

  • a national urban design awards scheme

  • supporting urban design research and evaluation

  • developing an independent Urban Design Act on the same level as the RMA.

 

 

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