Key Topics: Construction Effects

The change from rural to urban use will result in works being staged over several years to undertake bulk earthworks, build roads, establish parks, walkways and stormwater management areas, install underground services and construct new homes and other buildings.

There are foreseeable effects from land development activities including movement of construction machinery to site, noise and vibration, visual changes, and air and water borne sediment. These effects will be temporary and can be reduced through careful site management.

As outlined above, specific controls on construction traffic accessing Matipo Avenue are proposed.

Large scale earthworks are controlled under a Regional Plan by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, who place strict conditions on the control of dust and sediment runoff.

Construction noise is managed by the District Council under the District Plan. A widely accepted New Zealand Standard (NZS6803:1999) will be used for the assessment of construction noise. Noise management plans will be required to ensure that noise levels are met including by limiting working hours and through the selection of appropriate machinery.

Feedback on draft Plan Provisions included concerns about vibration effects during land development. Vibration effects are not currently controlled by the District Plan. They may be indirectly controlled through the construction earthworks process, but there is no explicit recognition of this issue in the Development Code. Otherwise, vibration effects are managed through civil liability, primarily on a reactive basis. The proposed provisions include specific standards for managing vibration effects, alongside noise.