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Plan Change 1: Setting the record straight

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Published: 08/09/2025

Development of Plan Change 1

  • Proposed Waikato Regional Plan Change 1: Waikato and Waipā rivers, often referred to as Plan Change 1 or PC1, was developed by a 24-member collaborative stakeholder group, not by Waikato Regional Council staff.
  • The sectors who were to be impacted by Plan Change 1 designed the composition of the stakeholder group and appointed their own members to represent their interests. The group consisted of representatives from the dairy, forestry, industry, sheep and beef, and horticulture sectors, as part of the wider group.
  • All but one member (the sheep and beef representative) of the collaborative stakeholder group endorsed the draft plan for recommendation to council.
  • A comprehensive economic model was developed in tandem with the development of Plan Change 1, the outputs of which have been publicly available since prior to the notification of the plan in 2016.
  • Plan Change 1 was heard by an independent panel of commissioners, one of whom was purposefully appointed due to being a working farmer with a deep knowledge of rural communities.

Adoption of decisions version and temporary emergency delegations: March 2020

  • Waikato Regional Council adopted the decisions of the Independent Panel at an extraordinary council meeting on 18 March 2020, and made a decision to notify those decisions for appeals.
  • The meeting was prior to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown and before the 23 March 2020 decision to put in place emergency delegations to the Chief Executive and Chair, along with the relevant committee chair(s).
  • The temporary delegations were put in place to ensure essential decision-making could continue and enabled the council to operate under unprecedented conditions before legislative changes allowed for remote meetings. Decisions were to be reported back to the council at its next ordinary meeting. All decisions made using these delegations were subject to a "checks and balances" process and were not to be exercised without councillors having an opportunity for discussion.
  • The emergency delegations remained in place “for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic”. The Government lifted all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on 15 August 2023, treating COVID-19 as a standard public health issue from that date. For clarity of governance records, 15 August 2023 is the practical end point of the COVID-19 pandemic response in New Zealand, and therefore the date upon which the emergency delegations lapsed.

Land use change

  • In response to statutory requirements, Plan Change 1 does introduce rules to manage the effects of activities to improve water quality. The proposed plan change includes rules for permitted activities through to a singular non-complying rule, Rule 3.11.4.9, that relates to land use change, for activities that change from less nutrient intense activities to more nutrient intense activities (such as a change from woody vegetation to farming), however a consent pathway still exists for this. Of the six consents applied for under this rule, five have been granted (with appropriate conditions of consent), with one still working through the resource consent process. 

Appeals to the Environment Court

  • Following notification of the Plan Change 1 decisions version, 24 appeals were received with over 1000 appeal points. None of the appeals were withdrawn. That means, in accordance with Clause 8D of Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act (RMA), the plan change cannot be withdrawn.
  • The Environment Court has indicated that it will reach a final decision on Plan Change 1 by the end of 2025. This decision will be able to be appealed to the High Court, only on questions of law.
  • Under s290 of the RMA, the Environment Court may confirm, amend or cancel the council’s decisions on Plan Change 1. The court’s final decision will likely take the form of a direction to Waikato Regional Council to amend proposed Plan Change 1 and to file and serve a final version for approval by the court. This version will fulfil the statutory requirements of s295 of the RMA. Once approved by the court, the council shall approve the proposed plan. There is no discretion to not approve the plan.
  • Because Plan Change 1 is before the court, no elected member or executive of Waikato Regional Council has the ability to influence the process. 

The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act

  • The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act placed a stop on the notification of plans that are presently underway. Plan Change 1 is not ‘stopped’ by recent legislative amendments.
  • That’s because, in accordance with provision 80 O of the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act, Plan Change 1 is not considered to be a proposed planning instrument that is covered by the prohibition on notifying proposed planning instruments. Plan Change 1 was notified in 2016, all submissions and subsequent appeals to the Environment Court have been heard. It is the Environment Court’s decision on these appeals that will determine the final provisions of Plan Change 1.