FAQs
they relate to an RCL area and are not a record of site-specific landscape values; and
as part of a future resource consent or plan change application, a more detailed landscape assessment may reveal different landscape values.
What is the purpose of the RCL landscape schedules?
RCL schedules will record the important landscape values of an area. These schedules will assist Council and plan users with evaluating the appropriateness or otherwise of resource consent and plan change applications, and improve the efficiency of this process.
What are landscape values?
Landscape values encompass landscape character and visual amenity values. They relate to the things that we value about the places that we live, play, visit and work in.
They can be physical things (like mountains or rivers), things we experience (like views, how wild and remote a place looks to you) and those things that make a landscape meaningful to us (like mana whenua associations and traditions, historic elements and recreation features).
What is an RCL Area?
A RCL corresponds to a Rural Character Landscape (RCL) area. The term RCL is used in the District Plan and relates to all of the Rural zoned land that is not identified as an Outstanding Natural Feature or Outstanding Natural Landscape. The RCL is not mapped in the Proposed District Plan, however has a range of policies in Chapter 21 that address the management of these parts of the District.
Why is there an additional Priority Area included?
Council was directed to amend the Proposed District Plan maps to categorise Clutha Mata-Au as an Outstanding Natural Feature (and not an Outstanding Natural Landscape) and to amend the boundary so that it reflected the enclosing escarpments on either side of the river. This work was directed at the same time as the Priority Area schedules project and was not completed by the time the schedules were notified. This led to delays preparing the Priority Area, meaning that it could not be notified with the others and would be notified as part of the RCL Variation instead
Will the RCL schedules lead to new rules or resource consent requirements for my land?
No. RCLs and their associated rules already exist in the District Plan, and will not be changed by the RCL schedules. The purpose of RCL schedules is to help with evaluating resource consent and plan change applications.
How will the RCL schedules be used?
The District Plan requires the maintenance of landscape character and the maintenance or enhancement of visual amenity values. If you are applying for a resource consent or plan change, Council will use these schedules as a ‘starting point’ for considering how the proposal will affect the landscape values of the RCL area.
What does Council want to know from me?
We want to hear about the landscape-related things you value in these RCL areas. For example, particular trails or views, stands of trees, the sense of peacefulness or tranquillity of an area, the way existing buildings may complement the rural landscape, the importance of the rural landscape as a place to live or work in, and anything else you value in these areas.
What should I tell Council about my property?
It’s helpful for us to understand what development you have on your property so this can be acknowledged as an accepted part of the landscape in the RCL schedules.
What happens if some of the landscape values associated with my land are not mentioned in the RCL schedule?
The RCL schedules will clearly explain that:
Where does the methodology for evaluating landscape values that will underpin the RCL schedules come from?
The landscape assessment methodology that will be used is consistent with Te Tangi a te Manu which is the Landscape Assessment Guidelines for Aotearoa New Zealand, that is supported by the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects. This best practice landscape assessment methodology draws from over 30 years of landscape-related case law.
Do other places in New Zealand have similar schedules of landscape values?
Yes. Many places already have schedules of values for their very high value landscapes and features (referred to as Outstanding Natural Landscapes and Features). Other places have schedules for their Amenity Landscapes (or RMA s7(c) landscapes), which are the type of landscape that RCL areas are.
How have the RCL areas been mapped?
A team of landscape architects and GIS experts have mapped the RCL areas in the Upper Clutha using a broad range of GIS resources such as 1m contour data, geomorphological mapping, land type mapping, soils mapping and the PDP zones and overlay mapping. Generally speaking, the RCL areas encompass a part of the Upper Clutha Basin that has a reasonably similar landscape character, particularly in terms of the underling landform or geomorphology.
Why is there such a range in sizes across the mapped RCL areas?
Several RCL areas amount to ‘fragments’ of RCL wedged between urban and ONF/L areas. Others, such as the land to the east of the Clutha Mata-Au are large enough that distinct landscape character areas are evident.
What happens next?
QLDC will consider all feedback received prior to notifying the landscape schedules for inclusion in the Proposed District Plan. Once notified there will be an opportunity to be part of the process through submissions or further submissions on the Variation.