Council has commissioned a large amount of research to inform the preparation of the draft district plan.
The research reports cover the following topics:
Strategic planning
Important landscapes
Natural heritage
City centre
Amenity
Natural hazards
The Rotorua Structure Plan provides a framework to guide the development and redevelopment of larger areas within the Rotorua Basin for the next 30-50 years. It also sets out the staging of development and the provision for infrastructure.
The Rotorua Basin Structure Plan has been provided as a main document and can be viewed here
There's also a map index and six planning unit maps that can be viewed separately for better clarity.
View map index here
Click on the links below to view the maps
Planning unit map 1 - Hamurana
Planning unit map 2 - Northern
Planning unit map 3 - Ngongotaha
Planning unit map 6 - Eastern suburbs
The Rotorua Structure Plan supersedes the previous work of the eastern and western structure plans.
View Eastern and Western Structure Plans
The Lake Rotorua Basin Structure Plan also includes a transport assessment which is currently being peer reviewed.
Click here to view the transport assessment structure plan
Landscape Assessment Reports have been undertaken for the entire Rotorua district. The aim of these reports was to identify important (outstanding) natural features and landscapes that need to be managed for protection and enhancement. Provided below are the Lake Rotorua, Northern and Southern basin reports that are relevant to the area covered by the draft district plan.
Note: The Lake Rotorua Catchment Landscape Assessment Report is split into two documents, as the file is too large to upload in its entirety.
View the Lake Rotorua Catchment Landscape Assessment Report (pages 1 - 65)
View the Lake Rotorua Catchment Landscape Assessment Report (pages 66 - 132)
View the Northern Lakes Area Landscape Assessment Report
View the Southern Lakes Area Landscape Assessment Report
Also a management framework report informed the drafting of Part 3 of the draft district plan, Matters of National Importance which is presently being finalised.
Natural Heritage, Flora and Fauna of the District
This report reassessed unprotected natural heritage sites and recommended areas for protection on private land that were documented in 1998 in a similar report which identified the significant natural areas (SNA's) that are in the district. Below is the summary report
View the Rotorua Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Summary Report
Built heritage in the City Centre
The Rotorua City Centre area was studied by heritage consultants to identify any buildings and structures that are of heritage importance either from a local, regional or national perspective. As part of this study consultation began in 2007 and the information has informed Appendix 1 of the Draft District Plan
View the city centre heritage study part A and part B
City Centre Parking Study
This research was commissioned in response to recommendations in the 2007 Transport Demand Management Strategy, and focused specifically on parking issues in the city centre. The research assisted in the development of the Urban Design Framework for the City Centre.
View the city centre parking study
Acoustics Research
Marshall Day Acoustics (MDA) produced two acoustic reports. The first one included a review of the noise standards with a view to ensuring consistency of approach with neighbouring Councils Whakatane and South Waikato. The second report was a Rotorua specific report to inform the draft district plan on general noise standards and standards for special circumstances within the district.
View the noise standards review and the noise review - specific issues
Signage
A technical report covering the key issues and options around signage was commissioned to provide the basis for policy directions developed by Elected Members.
The Rotorua district contains a range of natural hazards with the most visible being the geothermal areas caused by volcanic activity. Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) were commissioned to provide a series of natural hazard research projects to fill some knowledge gaps. These related to landslides, soft soils, earthquakes, volcanic activities, geothermal effects and the impact of high groundwater tables.
View the shallow groundwater report
View the volcano and geothermal report
View the active fault hazard report
View the fault avoidance zones map