Manawatu District Council

Manawatu District Council - Industrial Zone Planning Rules  

The below guidance is our knowledge of the rules and regulations and is provided to assist you in your assessment and early planning but does not constitute official or legal advice.  

When building within an Industrial Zone in the Manawatu District there are some key rules to follow to make sure you comply with to avoid requiring a Resource Consent.  

To help you understand the requirements in each zone we have broken down the key permitted activities and rules below for each different zone.  

Note: There are area specific rules that may also apply to your project, the XL Structural Architectural Team are available for guidance in the rules of the Manawatu District Plan. 

Permitted Activities  

Industrial Zones

The following are permitted activities in the Industrial Zone provided that they comply with the performance standards below; 

• Industry
• Light Industry 
• Additions or alterations to any existing building 
• Agricultural vehicle sales and service 
• Ancillary activities 
• Standalone car parking activities and buildings 
• Construction of any building associated with a permitted activity 
• Lunch bars and dairies 
• Seismic strengthening 
• Service stations
• Work skills training centres 
• Outdoor storage areas, public open space, car parking and farming (excluding buildings) are the only activities permitted within the Lateral Spread Overlay 
• Earthworks 
• Signs

Performance Standards 

Maximum Height and Setback Yards  

1. Building Setback Yards and Height

( i) All buildings excluding signs and service station canopies must be set back at least 6 metres from any boundary with a road or rail corridor.  

(ii)Buildings (excluding on boundaries where i) above applies) must be at least:  

• 10 metres from any boundary adjoining land zoned Residential or Village; and 
• 5 metres from any boundary adjoining land zoned Rural, Recreation or Flood Channel 2. 

(iii) Maximum height of any building is 12 metres.  

(iv) Any outdoor storage of goods must be setback at least:  

• 5 metres from any boundary adjoining land zoned Residential or Village; and 
• 2 metres from any boundary adjoining an arterial road or land zoned Rural, Recreation or Flood Channel 2. 

Landscape, Screen Planting and Streetscape Design 

(i) New Road 

Along any new road constructed after 11 September 2017, a tree must be planted every 26 metres within the road reserve with a minimum size at planting of PB40. It must be capable of growing to a 4 metre height with a trunk that can be limbed up to 2 metres 

(ii) Formed Car Parking Areas 

1. Within any formed car parking area, 1 specimen tree must be planted for every 10 car park spaces. Trees shall be evenly distributed amongst the parking area and planted in a 2m x 2m landscaping box or similar feature and must include a landscape strip with planting established. 
2. Where 20 or more car parking spaces are provided, all parks must be bound by a 1.5 metre wide landscape strip that must be planted and maintained with low growing shrubs and groundcover not exceeding 0.75 metres in height. 

Every 26 metres along the landscape strip a tree must be planted with a minimum size at planting of PB40. Trees must be capable of growing to a 4 metre height with a trunk that can be limbed up to 2 metres. 

2. Where less than 10 car park spaces are required, a 2m x 2m landscaping box shall be provided at either edge of the parking area and a landscape strip must be provided along any road frontage, in general accordance with Diagram 2. 

 (iii) Screening and Amenity Planting of Interface Areas 

1. On-site boundaries which adjoin a Residential or Village Zone a 5m wide screen planting area must be established, planted and maintained with a variety of shrubs and trees (as specified (i) and (ii) of this standard).  On site boundaries which adjoin a Rural or Flood Channel 2 Zone a 2m wide screen planting area must be established, planted and maintained with a variety of shrubs and trees.  

1. Shrubs must be capable of growing to a minimum height at maturity of 4 metres;
2. Trees must be capable of growing to a minimum height at maturity of 9 metres. Note: – The preferred planting species for this Zone are listed in Appendix 16.1 b. Major or Minor Arterial Roads (excluding car park frontage areas where 16.4.2 b. ii) (Formed Car Parking Areas) applies). 

• On sites which adjoin any major or minor arterial roads (excluding Waughs Road) (Refer Appendix 3B.1 Manawatu District Road Hierarchy) or which lie directly across the road from a Residential or Village Zone, a 2m landscaping strip along the front boundary, but excluding at vehicle crossings, must be provided. 
• On sites adjoining Waughs Road/SH 54, a 5m wide landscaping strip must be provided. 
• Where landscape strips are to be provided they must be planted and maintained with a variety of low shrubs and trees that will grow to a height of at least between 0.5 − 1.0 metres.
• Planting adjacent to any arterial road must be frangible (breakable or fragile). 

(iv) Any fencing where located adjacent to a road or non−industrial zoned land must be erected internally to the site with landscape planting fronting the road or non−industrial zoned land.  

(v) Any planting required by this Rule, must be maintained and if plants perish they must be replaced immediately by the landowner.  

(vi) The landscaping along any yard referred to in (iii) of this standard, must not be obscured by fencing.  

Other rules applicable to ALL industrial zones in the Manawatu Plan 

HAIL and contaminated land 

From experience XL is aware a lot of industrial land may have been developed on contaminated or HAIL land. The Manawatu Plan has rules and policies in place for contaminated land. 

XL Structural will be able to assist you with your project to ensure you are not breaching these requirements. 

Carparking  

The Manawatu District Plan has rules and policies in place for the various zones for car parking and landscaping. If providing car parking you will still need to comply with  

NZS 4121:2001 and provide 1 accessible car park per 1-20 spaces.  

It is also important to consider the surrounding environment and where your staff working within your new building will park if limited spaces are provided. 

There are also minimum dimensions for car parks depending on the layout you choose to use on your site, along with turning circle and road width requirements. XL can work through the best car park layout for your site with you. 

These are the main rules which your building needs to comply with to avoid needing a resource consent, it is important to understand there may be further rules to comply with. Manawatu District Plan can be challenging to navigate, we would recommend reaching out to the XL Structural team who will be happy to conduct a concise and detailed preliminary planning review for your project. 

You can find the full Manawatu District Plan here