Part 1 – General Information

1.6    Alternative Solutions

1.6.1    Procedure

The MPDC Development Manual is a means of compliance to meet the provisions in section 5.9 of the District Plan.

A developer may wish to depart from the preferred solution as set out in the MPDC Development Manual.  The alternative details or specifications need to be raised with the Council as early as possible in the design process to ensure a collaborative solution can be reached before the resource consent application is made and before detailed construction plans have to be submitted for approval.

This will involve submitting to Council a scoping report and Specification Variation Request form/s which will detail the proposed variation or alternative and identify how the alternative solution meets the design criteria.

Council staff will consider any variation application and provide a response confirming, rejecting or requesting further information or clarification of aspects.

Provided the pre-application process has been successful, all variations from the MPDC Development Manual will be known by the Council, and approval should be a formality.

Ultimately the discretion to accept the variation lies with the Council, under delegated authority. Council expects consultation at the earliest possible stage where alternative engineering solutions are to be sought.  The process shall be undertaken without undue delay.

To best achieve these outcomes, the process leading to approval of a development must be collaborative. At the very least it must involve the developer, their professional advisers, Council  Planning Staff and  Engineering Staff.

The Specific Variation Request form is attached at the end of this section.

The following flow chart illustrates the process to be followed when preparing and submitting a development proposal:

(Click to enlarge)