The December 16 hearing on the Thames Coromandel District Council Proposed District Plan will mark the halfway point in the hearing process.

Council has recently completed its fourth hearing on the plan and considered submissions on Natural Hazards and the Residential Area.

The next hearing on the TCDC proposed District Plan will take place December 16. photo: File

Panel chair Mark Farnsworth says he is really pleased with the way hearings are going as they are receiving quality representations in support of submissions.

But he points out: 'The minutes from each hearing are only a record of what was heard and discussed at that hearing.

'The Panel will not be making any recommended decisions to the Council until all the hearings are completed and all submissions and evidence are considered.”

The hearing timetable is proposed to extend to May next year with the final hearing finishing on May 21.

A number of key issues require considerable care and attention and as a result the hearing schedule has been modified.

These changes are to accommodate resourcing, including expert input, submitters and their experts, decisions from the Environment Court on the Regional Policy Statement.

It is also to allow the panel to undertake location visits around the district, says mark.

'As the hearing process has advanced it has become apparent that some of the big topics such as biodiversity and landscape and natural character require substantial input and have generated such interest in the hearings.

'They had to be moved to later in the timetable.”

More details about the hearings timetable can be found at www.tcdc.govt.nz/dpr