Your ability to subdivide your property depends on its location, zoning, size and how well your proposal complies with the rules in the Whakatāne District Plan.

You can read the subdivision rules in the Whakatāne District Plan.

There are also online maps are available.

This section is an overview of the main requirements for subdivision within the two residential zones.

For more specific advice, you should contact a surveyor or planner who can provide advice and help you design and prepare a subdivision application to lodge with us.

The Residential Zone applies to densely settled residential areas in Whakatāne, Ōhope, Edgecumbe, Murupara, Te Teko, Te Māhoe, Taneātua, Matatā, Minginui, Waimana and Awakeri. A wide range of residential accommodation takes place in this zone, including houses and accessory dwellings (small, second houses on the same property).

The Urban Living Zone applies to the urban residential area in Kōpeōpeō. It’s similar to the Residential Zone, except it provides for higher residential density rates and more on-site intensive designs. Yard, outdoor living, building coverage, impervious area (for example, driveways and parking spaces) and height controls are different from the Residential Zone.

The minimum lot size depends on the zoning of your property:

Subdivision consent is also required to either update a cross lease flats plan or to convert a cross lease title to a freehold title.

A boundary adjustment is still a subdivision process, but it can’t be declined by the Council. The following requirements must be met; however, for an application to be considered on this basis:

• there is no resulting increase in the number of lots, and
• each resulting lot must have substantially the same area, i.e., land is effectively swapped, and
• all other standards are complied with (distance to boundary, access, services etc.)

As well as lot size, there are other planning, environmental and engineering matters that you need to consider when applying for a subdivision. These include:

1. Access: The lots must have legal and physical access to a public road, and access needs to be constructed to the required standard. If the land has access from a State Highway, you’ll need to provide written consent from Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency.
2. Building site: Every new lot must contain a building site that is suitable for residential development. If the land is steep, prone to inundation or erosion, special consideration will be taken. Specialist reports are needed, like a geotechnical assessment, to support any application where there are limiting site-specific factors.
3. Services: Each lot must be able to provide a potable water supply, and be able to discharge effluent and stormwater within the lot area. An On-site Effluent Treatment System (OSET) assessment is usually needed to support the application.
4. Other factors, such as proximity to significant infrastructure, the coast, landscape features, archaeological or cultural features, the presence of streams, wetlands and native bush will also affect the information you need to submit and how your subdivision proposal is assessed.
5. Council is required to ensure that any proposed building site is in an area that is free from soil contamination and that any earthworks, a change in land use or subdivision doesn’t adversely affect human health. Any application must include an assessment against the provisions of the National Environment Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health.

Engaging a surveyor and/or planner is an important part of the subdivision process. They'll give you professional advice and help guide you through the subdivision process. They’ll help you identify what specialist reports are needed and prepare the subdivision application for you, including the Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE report). A surveyor will prepare a scheme plan and ultimately do the survey work if consent is granted.

Consultation with your neighbours can be very beneficial for both parties, especially if shared services or rights-of-way are involved. Council planning staff will ultimately decide if written approval from your neighbours or any other party is needed as part of the subdivision process.

Many iwi or hapū have iwi management plans that must be considered.

View the iwi management plans»

Some iwi also have statutory acknowledgments over specific areas or features that must be specifically considered. These areas can be found on the Bay Of Plenty Regional Council website.

Consulting with all relevant iwi and hapū groups means the cultural effects of the proposal can be understood. This should be completed before any application is lodged.

We have 20 working days to process a non-notified subdivision application. This time doesn’t include any time the application is on hold while waiting for more information.

Subdivision proposals that have more than minor effects on the environment, or involve parties that won’t give their written approval, must be limited or publicly notified. Affected parties can then lodge submissions for or against the proposal. If a submission is received and the submitters want to be heard, a Council hearing will be required. Notified subdivisions can take three to four months to be processed.

If we approve your subdivision, there will be certain conditions that need to be met before you can apply to Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to get new Records of Title. These conditions might include things like installing new services, upgrading or installing vehicle crossings and access ways, creating easements and fencing bush or wetland areas.

You must complete all of the conditions before you can apply for the final certificate from Council (Section 224). Some of these conditions might be ongoing after the Records of Title is issued. These are placed against the title by way of a Consent Notice.

Your surveyor will also need to prepare the final Land Transfer Plan for Council’s approval (Section 223 plan) and physically peg the location of the new boundaries.

We charge a deposit for subdivision consent applications. You can find the list of fees in our Fees and Charges document.

Additional fees are charged depending on how long it takes to process your application. All fees are charged on a cost-recovery basis. This might also include costs related to Consent Notices preparation and specialist reports review.

There are other legal costs and potential development contributions as well, which you should discuss with your surveyor before starting the subdivision process. A development contribution is required if a subdivision opens up the possibility of an additional dwelling permitted on the land.

Once a subdivision application has been approved, you have a maximum of five years to have the new Land Transfer Plan certified by Council (Section 223 plan). You then have a maximum of three years to complete the conditions of consent (Section 224 certificate), complete legal requirements and have the new Records of Title issued by LINZ.

The time between the S223 certification of the Land Transfer Plan and the issue of title can’t be extended. If the three year timeframe isn’t met, then the subdivision lapses.