Another 2500 houses may be built in Dunedin to cater for the growing population if proposed planning changes are given a green light.
File photo. Photo: 123rf.com
The Dunedin City Council is working on changes to the city's Second Generation District Plan that will impact most suburban areas.
They include removing restrictions on who can live in family flats, allowing smaller site sizes, creating more flexibility for development, improving provisions for social housing, and encouraging good urban design and well-managed infrastructure in greenfield sites.
Zoning changes for some sites are expected to result in more new housing sites available for development in areas that were zoned rural or rural residential, and more areas where the density of housing can be increased.
The council's city development manager Dr Anna Johnson said residents would find out more about the key changes in information included in this week's rates notices.
"These changes are city-wide, so we want to give residents a heads up about what's coming. People will be able to see what the changes mean for their property when details are made public next month," she said.
The proposed new homes would be on top of the 3400 houses the plan was already expected to provide over the next decade, Johnson said.
Separate letters discussing the changes will be sent to most property owners whose sites are proposed to be rezoned or are nearby.
The council is set to sign off on the changes at a meeting next week ahead of public consultation from 3 February until 4 March.