Council adopted this strategy on 26 June 2024.
We’ve teamed up with Horizons Regional Council on a Future Development Strategy which will guide how Palmerston North and the wider district grow over the next 30 years.
City growth plan adopted
With more people choosing to live and work in Palmy our population is growing fast. This means we need to carefully plan how we can provide more space for new homes and businesses, while protecting our environment and other things that make this a great place to live. The way Palmerston North grows is something we should all have a say in, so we asked you to let us know what things are important to you and how you think Palmy should grow.
Submissions on our draft strategy closed at 4pm on Sunday 5 May.
Our Future Development Strategy will guide how we provide for housing and business growth
The draft strategy sets out:
- what a well-functioning urban environment means for Palmy
- iwi and hapū aspirations for urban development
- opportunities and constraints to growth
- our growth needs and where we’re proposing growth should occur
- growth-related infrastructure requirements.
Draft Future Development Strategy(PDF, 24MB)
Statement of Proposal(PDF, 2MB)
The draft strategy contains a range of maps which set out the different areas where we’re proposing growth could happen in and around the city, along with the required infrastructure to service it. Our statement of proposal summarises the main opportunities for growth around the district, along with the challenges and constraints we may face if choosing to build there.
To grow sustainably we’ll need to take a balanced approach
Our draft strategy proposes a balanced approach to growing Palmy. This includes repurposing land and increasing density in some areas within the city, along with some greenfield expansion around the edges.
We’re proposing ‘growing in’ by repurposing space within our city to provide more room for new housing and businesses. This could be done by allowing buildings to be built closer together, subdividing larger sections, or by rezoning some areas as a Medium Density Residential Zone, where new homes could be built closer together. This zone could also allow us to use space within the city to ‘grow up’ by allowing houses of up to 11 metres, or 3 storeys.
Part of this balanced approach includes accommodating growth by ‘growing out’ through greenfield expansion, which is the use of currently undeveloped land to enable new housing. Our draft strategy includes plans for rezoning land in Aokautere to enable around 1,000 homes and at Kākātangiata on the western edge of the city to enable around 7,200 new homes.
For industrial growth, we’re proposing ‘growing out’ through greenfield expansion at Te Utanganui, to the northeast of the city along Railway Road (288 hectares).
The draft strategy draws on a lot of work we’re already doing
The government requires all local authorities to have a strategy for future development. This requirement is specified in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development, which sets out the objectives and policies for planning well-functioning urban environments.
Our draft strategy has been guided by the strategic directions of both councils. It is also shaped by information from our latest housing and business needs assessment. This assesses how many homes – and how much land for business – we need to meet demand over the next 30 years.
Our proposed Future Development Strategy incorporates areas that we've already signalled for housing and business growth. For example:
The work we’ve already done on these areas has looked into constraints on growth, including flooding, liquefaction and protecting our rural land for food production.
We’re considering a range of views and requirements
We've been working with a range of other organisations to consider their future needs. These include:
- iwi values and aspirations for urban development
- the aims and growth needs of agencies such as the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Powerco, KiwiRail, and Kāinga Ora
- changes to the public transport network
- flood hazard risk and protection
- existing national and regional plans and strategies.