A new report says the Southland District's population is unevenly growing, which raises challenges for future planning. 

The Council's "District Plan Effectiveness Report" for 2016-2018 says the Southland District's population is expected grow at a medium rate — but its uneven nature raises challenges for affordability, equity and equality.

The report cites the continued growth of Te Anau and Winton and an increasing need to consider the next steps for these townships and their development. 

The converse of this trend is that there are townships that are projected to have their populations decline, the report says.

"From a planning perspective this creates challenges around levels of service, ability to replace or retain infrastructure and maintain amenity within townships."

The report also says Southland's traditionally high level of home ownership is declining and "at a faster rate than the rest of New Zealand."

"This is interesting given Southland has been rated as the most affordable place to buy a house in New Zealand. There is a need to understand the reasoning behind this and what aspects are influenced by the Council’s policy settings for land development."

The report is an in-depth summary of how the council's district plan has been functioning over the last two years.

On Thursday (July 11), the report will go to the Southland District Council Regulatory and Consents Committee to have its recommendations be considered for endorsement.