Green Buildings and Quarries

 

Not too much here – most likely because I did not cover these issues in my submission to the Unitary Plan. However, for your reading:

Green buildings and quarries discussed at Unitary Plan workshop

 

Draft Unitary Plan proposals for sustainable design, including green building rules for new residential and commercial developments, were topics covered at yesterday’s Unitary Plan workshop.

Discussions included the proposals for a Homestar six-star rating (or equivalent) for new developments with five or more dwellings, and a GreenStar five-star rating for new office and industrial buildings.

Councillors and local board chairs agreed to consider retaining the six-star rating for homes but reduce the rating for office and commercial buildings to four-star. Council staff were also asked to look at a different approach for certain industrial buildings.

Extensions to quarry zones and quarry transport routes were also covered. The draft Unitary Plan quarry zone provides for regionally significant mineral extraction such as aggregate products for infrastructure projects.

Six regionally significant quarries currently have over 2000 truck movements a day and the Unitary Plan process will consider if controls may be needed.

Ends

 

Related articles

• Unitary Plan Report (voakl.net)