The size and complexity of Design Statements, and the time and costs involved, are relative to the size and complexity of the development site and proposal. The majority of the information required for a design statement is the same or similar to a standard resource consent application, or if necessary, for submission to the Auckland Urban Design Panel. By preparing a contextual response that successfully integrates with its surroundings, and by providing all documentation and rationale via the design statement, a resource consent application can be easily assessed
The preparation of a design statement should not be an onerous task. If the preparation of a design statement does involve additional work for a design team to present (i.e. document) design ideas and thinking, in many cases this can be achieved very simply. For example, annotated hand drawn sketches prepared as part of a designer’s concept formulation are acceptable – the PAUP does not require fully rendered drawings.
Furthermore, the design statement information requirements have been specifically tailored to the scale and complexity of a particular activity, and its anticipated environmental effects. Information required by a design statement that is in addition to general information requirements of all resource consent applications are linked to matters of discretion and relevant assessment criteria, or are considered to be a relevant s104 matter for non-complying or discretionary activities. Therefore, such an application would be required to communicate how any effects of the proposed activity are avoided or reduced anyway, with the design statement providing certainty of how to do so rather than an additional requirement with an associated cost/ burden.