We became aware of a major shift in policy in the Ashburton District affecting the ability to adjust the boundary between parcels. Previously this had been a very effective means of subdividing from a title unwanted dwellings or small parcels of land.
This plan change was detrimental to the interests of a large number of landowners in the District. Over the course of the next few days, we identified as many affected land owners as we could and consulted with them to advise the situation and its implications in regard to their options. A large number of them instructed us to apply for consent to subdivide their properties to safeguard their position in regard to the rule change. We prepared and submitted a large number of resource consents in a very short time to achieve our target. We were successful in our applications and have some very happy clients.
The end result was that we were able to utilise a rule in the Plan that had until that time been very useful in sensible asset management that was disappearing as a result of a hasty plan change.