Policies

Council’s policies direct our actions on a range of issues for Palmerston North. You can find all our policies on this page.

The policies listed here have all been adopted by Council, with the exception of the provisional local alcohol policy, which is still subject to appeal.

 

26 Result(s) Found

Council's smokefree and vapefree guidelines for public areas in the city.

Through this policy, the Council aims to improve the health of the city, and contribute to the government's Smokefree 2025 goal. The Council has no powers to enforce the policy, so it is not a ban. Instead, the policy proposes to encourage people to refrain from smoking and vaping.

The current policy was adopted in December 2020. A review will be planned from 2024-25.  

Council owns the Upper and Lower Turitea Dams, which provide a safe and reliable water supply. This policy outlines our dam safety assurance programme, which aims to:

  • safeguard operations
  • ensure public safety and conform to Building (Dam Safety) Regulations
  • maintain the long term value of the city's water supply assets

A review of this policy will be planned from 2024-25.

If you’re planning a subdivision, an extension to a commercial building, or a property development, you may need to pay a development contribution fee.

The development contributions policy explores why development contributions are needed, what they fund, when they need to be paid, and what you’re likely to pay.

On this page you'll also find a guide to development contributions that provides a simple overview of the policy and answers some common questions, as well as the base fees used to calculate the contribution you'll pay to Council. These are adjusted for inflation each year.

We've made some changes to our policy

We recently reviewed and publicly consulted on our Development Contributions Policy alongside the Long-Term Plan 2024-34. 

We received 509 submissions on our proposed changes. These fed into the final changes which include:  

  • The removal of development contributions toward growth costs associated with our Nature Calls wastewater management project. 

  • Amendments to better align our policy with requirements set out in the Local Government Act.  

  • Rebalanced distributions toward the cost of growth infrastructure for water and wastewater, resulting in an increase for residential development and a decrease for non-residential.  

  • The cost of interest on borrowing for capital projects has now been included in the policy. 

  • Development contribution fees will not be charged for non-residential developments that don’t have a connection to our water or wastewater services. 

  • Inclusion of new development contribution areas for Mātangi and the proposed Roxburgh Crescent residential areas. 

  • Updated projected household growth data, maps and fee schedules. 

If you have questions about development contributions for your project, call us on 06 356 8199 or visit our Customer Service Centre and ask to speak to a planning officer.

Estimate your development contributions

This policy identifies areas where dogs are not allowed, where they must be on a leash, where they can be exercised without a leash, and where dogs can move about freely.

It also outlines the obligations and responsibilities of dog owners.

Council has two gambling policies that set the number and location of pokie machines and TAB venues in Palmerston North.

The policies try to balance the social costs of gambling with the benefits from the community grants made by gambling trusts.

The class 4 gambling venue policy relates to pokies (gaming machines) in pubs and clubs. It is used to decide whether Council will give consent to any new venue, and how many gaming machines the venue is allowed to operate.

The TAB venue policy is used to decide whether Council will give consent to any new TAB venues in Palmerston North. It relates to stand-alone TAB venues, not TAB terminals or kiosks inside pubs.

Council is required by law to adopt these policies, and to review them every 3 years. They will next be reviewed in 2026-27.

This policy aims to raise awareness of the adverse health effects of regularly consuming sugar sweetened drinks. It encourages the provision of healthy beverage choices at Council venues, to contribute to improved health for those within Council, and to model good health behaviours for the wider community.

It was developed in consultation with MidCentral DHB.

A review will be planned from 2024-25.

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