Building consent requests steady

BUILDING consents issued by the Manawatu District Council have remained steady over the past 16 months even though numbers are significantly down on previous years.

A total of 807 consents valued at $86.7 million were issued in the year ending June 30, as against 1008 consents at $78.5 million in 2007/08. The value of consents was the highest on record, largely due to the start of an extensive building programme at RNZAF base Ohakea.

Principal Building Officer, Chris Henry, said the building industry in Manawatu and Palmerston North retained its “steady as she goes” approach and did not experience the booms associated with areas such as Tauranga.

“We are still reasonably busy and have more than enough to keep us going,” he said. “It does allow us to put in quality time on some of the processes we have in place and to address older consents that have been around for a while.”

Mr Henry said people were being more prudent as to where there dollars went, though the normal winter demand for consents involving farm sheds, garages and fireplaces was maintained.

“It’s been steady on the housing market, with many owners doing adds and alterations instead of building new homes, and the same approach is evident in the commercial sector.”

The building of a new hangar at Ohakea had been responsible for the sharp rise in values, and this trend was likely to continue as the Air Force worked through its scheduled building programme over the next five years.

Mr Henry said 250 consents valued at $16.7 million had been issued during the first four months of the 2009/10 financial year and he was hopeful the same targets set last year would again be achieved.

He said as part of the delivery of the council’s building services, inspection time frames had reduced to two days over the last two months and 100 percent compliance had been achieved in the last three months for building consents issued within the 20-day statutory time frame.

Annual consents issued
Year Number Value

1998/1999 935 23,711,360

1999/2000 1074 25,429,011

2000/2001 1012 30,049,133

2001/2002 1115 31,338,317

2002/2003 1122 31,662,852

2003/2004 1275 41,177,699

2004/2005 1301 51,000,206

2005/2006 1280 68,050,016

2006/2007 1243 82,414,806

2007/2008 1088 78,513,749

2008/2009 807 86,780,948