Mackenzie Spatial Plans

The Mackenzie District is a vast and varied area, treasured by locals and visitors alike. It has strong and distinctive communities, and a wealth of distinctive natural features - from the spectacular scenery offered in the Mackenzie Basin, through to the fertile soils of Eastern Mackenzie.

The district’s boundaries stretch from The Hopkins and Ohau rivers in the South right up to the Two Thumb Range and Ōpihi River Catchment in the North. It covers an area of 7,339 km and is home to over 5,100 people.

For Te Rūnanga O Ngāi Tahu and Papatipu Rūnanga the district provides a deep cultural connection with the past and future through a long line of whakapapa and history. Residents, and those with a connection to the Mackenzie, are rightfully proud of the district and want to see the things that make it such a special place to live, work and play protected.

The three main townships that make up the Mackenzie District, Fairlie, Tekapo | Takapō and Twizel have distinctive communities of their own, with differing likes, dislikes and visions of the future. Likewise, the smaller rural settlements of Burke’s Pass|Te Kopi-o-Ōpihi, Kimbell and Albury have their own distinctive features and heritage.

The Mackenzie District has been significantly impacted by unprecedented and sustained levels of growth over the past ten years. This has placed strains on the district’s communities, infrastructure, and environment.

The Mackenzie Spatial Plans were created to understand how this growth and development can be sustainably managed, charting a path that sets the direction for the next 30 years and beyond. The plans will be used to inform a review of the Mackenzie District Plan and guide council investment.

Alongside the Spatial Plans for the main towns of Fairlie, Takapō and Twizel, Settlement Plans were put together for the smaller rural townships of Burkes Pass, Kimbell and Albury.

What did we do?

Working in close partnership with MDC, Arowhenua and Boffa Miskell, Rationale developed and managed a process to develop and deliver the Mackenzie Spatial Plans,

Building a foundation for the project by developing an Establishment Report, the process put community engagement at its heart, ensuring the plans were driven by the community and reflected the wishes of those who lived there. Rationale designed and led the community engagement and also developed growth projections and undertook a housing stocktake to inform the project with a strong evidence base.

Using the results of comprehensive community engagement, Rationale combined a range of optioneering and investment management tools such as Investment Logic Mapping (ILM) and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) to help develop and analyse options for each town.

Ensuring the plans reflected mana whenua values and aspirations was central to the success of the process and Arowhenua was closely involved throughout the process.

Utilising urban design expertise from Boffa Miskell, the plans were developed using best practise urban design principles delivered to meet National Planning Standards specifications.

What was the result?

Rationale and Boffa Miskell delivered three spatial plans and three settlement plans. These were backed up with detailed analysis that integrated optioneering, population growth, development yields and thirty-year infrastructure costs. These were delivered as a public facing Spatial Plan, GIS maps and a technical business case style document that recorded rationale for decisions made throughout the process.

These received broad community support and were unanimously adopted by Mackenzie District Council. They are now being used to directly inform the review of MDC’s District Plan.

View the Spatial Plans

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