OUR PROJECTS VINCENT SPATIAL PLAN

CLIENT: Central Otago District Council 
DATE: 2021 - 2022 
STATUS: Directly informing a Council-led plan change for the area 

The Vincent area in Central Otago has an extraordinary and distinctive character. Spectacular scenery, productive land, a rich heritage and wonderful recreational opportunities all make it a special place to live. 

The Vincent Spatial Plan is a blueprint for the next 30 years showing what the area’s towns could look like and how infrastructure, housing and productive land use could fit together. It is a vision of what the future could look like, offering guidance to the private and public sector, including direction for infrastructure investment and Council’s future planning.

The effects of growth are being felt in a number of ways, both positive and negative. The Vincent Spatial Plan looks to address the challenges and opportunities of growth, charting a path that sets the direction for the next 30 years and beyond.  

Central Otago is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions. Growth projections for the Vincent area indicate that between 2020 and 2050 the urban population will increase by 5,300 people, meaning we have to allow for an additional 2,500 houses by 2050.  

CODC has taken the opportunity to ensure potential development can occur in a sustainable, sympathetic manner, which protects the aesthetics, heritage and environment that make this area special. At the same time, the Spatial Plan seeks to balance the needs of existing land uses with the demands of a growing community.  

WHAT DID WE DO?

Working collaboratively with CODC and Boffa Miskell, Rationale built and managed a process to develop and deliver the Vincent Spatial Plan. 

Together, we established the project and designed the programme, founding this work in evidence such as growth projections, a housing stocktake, and a community values survey.  

The process had community engagement at the centre, ensuring the plans were driven by the community, balanced with the infrastructure servicing constraints of the area. Alongside CODC, Rationale gathered and analysed community feedback in many ways – through surveys, community drop-in events and online commentary, which included almost 700 people taking time to submit on the draft Plan. 

Rationale combined a range of optioneering and investment management tools such as Investment Logic Mapping (ILM) and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) to develop and analyse options for each town, considering extensive community engagement, feasibility of servicing and future growth requirements. 

Utilising urban design expertise from Boffa Miskell, the plans were developed using best practise urban design principles delivered to meet National Planning Standards specifications and support implementation into a Council-led Plan Change for the area.