Christchurch City Council - District Plan Review

We are acting for Christchurch City Council on the review of its proposed District Plan. This involves a fast-track and tailor-made process under earthquake recovery legislation, which aims to deal with the dramatically different circumstances facing post-earthquake Christchurch and enable its effective recovery. We provide advice at both strategic and technical levels.

Plan review hearings (in excess of 40 overall) are being conducted before an Independent Hearings Panel chaired by a retired High Court judge, and comprising an Environment Judge and other expert panel members. It is a complex, wide-ranging, high volume, novel and procedurally challenging process, which demands strategic legal input and risk management advice on a daily basis, and very quick turn-around given the compressed timeframes.

Hearings commenced in December 2014, and the Order in Council requires that the entire plan review process must be complete in late 2016.