State of the Environment Report : Conclusion and References

CONCLUSION

PAGE 152 CONCLUSION OUR CITY’S ENVIRNOMENT

Our City’s Environment 2005 is intended to build on Our City’s 

Environment 2000 and represents the culmination of a five 

When the various outcomes from the monitoring indicators 

are considered together, there has emerged a picture about 

Amenity 

year monitoring and reporting programme undertaken by the 

Palmerston North City Council. 

The broad topic areas covered in the report include 

information on: 

People (Section 1) 

Amenity (Section 2) 

Transport (Section 3) 

Land (Section 4) 

Water (Section 5) 

Waste management (Section 6) 

National and Regional Monitoring (Section 7) 

158 indicators have been monitored to build up a picture of 

the state of Palmerston North’s environment between 2000 

and 2005. The list of monitoring indicators has increased 

since the completion of Our City’s Environment 2000 and will 

continue to evolve over time. 

the ‘State of the Environment’ in Palmerston North. Discussion 

of each of the environmental parameters began with a 

summary box which identifies: 

Facts 

Progress so far 

Issues to consider 

Those people seeking a quick “snapshot” of the conclusions 

need refer only to these summaries. 

Some of the significant findings from the report highlight that: 

People 

It is anticipated that the population of Palmerston North 

will continue to age over the next 20 years; 

The number of new dwellings constructed is increasing 

at a greater rate than population; 

Discussions with local iwi are required in order to 

establish and implement a strategy to monitor an 

agreed set of performance indicators; 

A number of initiatives are planned or have recently 

been completed to better communicate the nonregulatory 

design guidelines prepared by Council; 

Residential buildings remain under represented in the 

District Plan’s Schedule of Buildings and Objects of 

Cultural Heritage Value; 

The number of reserves, walkways, playgrounds and 

sportsfields within the City have all increased since 

2000; 

The level of community satisfaction with the current 

quality and usability of parks, reserves and sportsfields 

is either meeting, or close to meeting community 

expectations; 

The provision of sportsfields and facilities within the City 

is meeting the demands of most sports; 

The monitoring shows that the noisiest environment 

within the city is along Arterial and Principal Roads; 

Noise complaints are seasonal and weather related; 

Stereos and other music related noise account for over 

90% of all complaints within the City; 

A review of the noise monitoring programme is 

required; 

In the planning of new urban growth areas or 

redevelopment of existing residential areas, 

consideration needs to be given to the potential impact 

that background noise levels has on amenity values; 

There has been an increasing number of resource 

CONCLUSION 

OUR CITY’S ENVIRNOMENT CONCLUSION PAGE 153

CONCLUSION 

consents issued for site coverage encroachments 

between 2000 and 2004; 

The Residential Zone site coverage provisions need to 

be included within an overall review of the existing bulk 

and location provisions contained within the Residential 

Zone of the District Plan; 

The most significant type of amenity complaint related 

to home occupations, residential interface, signage and 

untidy property; 

The percentage of residents who are satisfied with the 

level of safety in public places at night has increased 

from 34% in 2000 to 44% in 2004; 

It is important that the Council and appropriate agencies 

monitor and report on the effectiveness of new crime 

prevention initiatives; 

Transport 

There has been a significant increase in the length of 

cycle lanes within the City; 

The proportion of people using cycles to travel to work 

has decreased; 

The use of buses is increasing; 

2002 had the highest number of injury crashes recorded 

for urban roads and 2003 the highest number recorded 

for rural roads; 

Land 

Average greenfield section site sizes have decreased 

and average back section infill site sizes have increased; 

The highest level of residential building activity in the 

City for fourteen years was recorded in 2004; 

High occupancy rates within the Inner Business Zone 

indicate the amenity and vibrancy of the CBD is strong; 

Pending movements and developments within the 

Inner Business Zone means there is likely to be 

additional sites available for the establishment of 

retailing activities in the CBD in the near future; 

Council received an influx of subdivision consents prior 

to the adoption of the new Development Contributions 

Policy in July 2004. The actual uptake of these lots is 

expected to be staged over the next 3-5 years; 

The Turitea Reserve of 3,564 hectares and other 

reserves and private land in the northern Tararua 

Ranges dominate the ecological resource base; 

The Kahuterawa and Turitea Streams have high quality 

riparian habitat and moderately healthy invertebrate 

communities, but less healthy than expected; 

There have been no resource consent applications for 

the removal or destruction of the 15 areas of significant 

indigenous vegetation identified within the District Plan; 

35,500 native plants have been planted since 2001 as 

part of the Turitea Stream Green Corridors project with 

another 8500 plants to be planted in 2005; 

Areas of native vegetation on the plains are few and 

small. To be sustainable ecologically, they need both 

Water 

physical protection and also bush corridors linking them 

to the large biodiversity reservoir in the hills, to allow 

native birds to reach them; 

Changes to the RMA 1991 will require Council to 

consider the effects of climate change as part of future 

Plan Changes to the District Plan; 

Horizons Regional Council intends to undertake 

extensive work to further identify flood levels to help 

landowners determine risks to their properties. The 

results of this work will need to be monitored and may 

have implications for Council; 

Water quality in the Manawatu River is moderate; 

The Kahuterawa and Turitea Streams have good riparian 

habitat and water quality, and support moderately 

healthy invertebrate communities. However, water 

quality is not as good as the habitats would suggest; 

The Mangaone and other urban streams regularly 

exceed certain water quality guidelines; 

Heavy metals in sediments are increasing at some sites 

and this is cause for concern; 

Should the trend in the levels of zinc recorded within 

urban streams continue or worsen over the coming 

years the specific sites of concern will need to be 

further investigated and a strategy put in place to 

improve water quality in these streams; 

Water capacity is sufficient to meet foreseeable 

demands; 


Waste 

Increasing amounts of greenwaste and general waste 

are being recycled; 

The cost of disposing waste will increase with the 

closure of the Awapuni landfill; 

There has been an increase in the number of complaints 

received about unauthorised waste disposal practices; 

The Council Environmental Investigations Register 

includes 240 recordings of sites that are either known to 

be or are potentially contaminated; 

The results of Horizons Regional Council’s air quality 

monitoring programme will need to be monitored and 

may have implications for Council. 

This is by no way a comprehensive list so please refer to the 

body of the report for a more complete picture. 

Through observation and experience, the City’s residents will 

already recognise that Palmerston North enjoys a pleasant 

environment. Following a closer look behind the scenes, the 

conclusions of this report generally validate these impressions. 

There are a number of environmental issues and challenges 

that do face the City and it is critical that we do not take our 

environment for granted. Future state of the environment 

reports will enable us to continue to measure improvements 

in, and any deterioration of, the City’s environment against 

the “benchmarks” established by this report and the previous 

reports prepared in 1995 and 2000. 

CONCLUSION 


CONCLUSION 


REFERENCES 


PAGE 158 REFERENCES OUR CITY’S ENVIRNOMENT

External Publications 

1. National Environmental Performance Indicators, Ministry 

for the Environment, 1997 

2. Draft Contaminated Land Management Guidelines No.4, 

Ministry for the Environment, June 2004 

3. Creating Our Future: Sustainable Development for New 

Zealand, Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for 

the Environment, 2002 

4. Road Safety Issues Report for Palmerston North City, 

Land Transport Safety Authority, July 2004 

5. Missing Links: Connecting Science with Environmental 

Policy, Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the 

Environment, 2004 

6. Growing for Good: Intensive Farming, Sustainability and 

New Zealand’s Environment, Office of the Parliamentary 

Commissioner for the Environment 

7. State of the Environment Report for Manawatu- 

Wanganui Region 1999: Measures of a Changing 

Landscape, Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, June 

1999. 

8. 2005 State of the Environment Report for the 

Manawatu-Wanganui Region, Horizons Regional Council, 

2005. 

9. New Zealand Waste Strategy, Ministry for the 

Environment, March 2002. 

10. Solid Waste Analysis Protocol, Ministry for the 

Environment, March 2002 

11. NZ Census 1996, Statistics New Zealand 1997 

12. NZ Census 2001, Statistics New Zealand 2002 

13. Manawatu Catchment Water Quality Plan, Manawatu- 

Wanganui Regional Council, October 1998 

14. Regional Plant Pest Management Strategy, Manawatu- 

Wanganui Regional Council, August 2001 

15. Manawatu River and Tributaries Navigation and Safety 

Bylaws 2004, Horizons Regional Council, August 2004 

16. Horizons Regional Council, Hazard Analysis Manual 

- Seismic Hazards, 1996 

17. Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Freshwater 

and Marine Water Quality, Australian and New Zealand 

Environment and Conservation Council, 2000 

Palmerston North City Council 

Publications 

Communitrak Survey Results (2004) 

Recreation and Community Facilities Asset Management 

Plan (2003) 

Development Contributions Policy (2004) 

Park User Survey (2004) 

Our City’s Environment 2000 (2000) 

Palmerston North City District Plan 

Recreational Needs Assessment (2005) 

Long Term Council Community Plan (2004) 

Outdoor Recreation Strategy (2002) 

Turitea Reserve Management Plan (2004) 

Palmerston North Industrial Land Use Study (2001) 

The Palmerston North Retail Study (2003) 

Interim Greening Strategy (2005) 

Community Outcomes - Creating Our Future (2005) 

Urban Growth Monitoring Report (2004) 

Quarterly Economic Report 

Savage Crescent Design Guide (1996) 

Elmira Avenue / Manapouri Crescent Design Guide (1999) 

Crime Prevention Plan (2004) 

The Bike Plan (1998) 

Palmerston North City Council Environmental Policy (1998) 

Transportation Management Plan (2002) 

Contaminated Sites Management Strategy (2001) 

Ecological Processes in Palmerston North City (2002) 

Stream Biodiversity and Water Quality of Palmerston 

North City (2004) 

REFERENCES 

OUR CITY’S ENVIRNOMENT REFERENCES PAGE 159

REFERENCES 

PAGE 160 REFERENCES OUR CITY’S ENVIRNOMENT

State of the Environment Report : Conclusion and References

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