Healthy Environments

Find out more about Healthy Environments

• Background

  The review of the coastal and regional plans

  Healthy Environments | He Taiao Mauriora is the combined review of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and the Waikato Regional Plan. These plans set out the objectives, policies, rules and methods that the regional council uses to manage natural resources, including air, land, fresh water and the coastal environment.

  The Resource Management Act (RMA) requires that these plans be reviewed every 10 years to update provisions, as necessary, and take into account legislative changes.

  Waikato Regional Council will be combining the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and Waikato Regional Plan into what will be called the Waikato Resource Management Plan, and intends to have it fully approved and operative by 2028.

  Healthy Environments | He Taiao Mauriora involves the following:

  • Reviews of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and the Waikato Regional Plan to achieve integrated resource management.
  • Seeking community, stakeholder and iwi feedback on the provisions of these plans and any suggestions for improvement.
  • Taking into account the Government’s first set of national planning standards, which came into force on 4 May 2019.
  • Taking into account various national policy statements and national environmental standards.
  • Taking into account any Treaty settlement legislation obligations.

  A range of issues have been identified to be considered in the review process:

  • The current coastal and regional plans do not fully give effect to some statutory documents, for example, the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, national policy statements and environmental standards, Waikato Regional Policy Statement, Treaty settlements and Te Ture Whaimana o Te Awa o Waikato – the Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River.
  • Plans are out of date in some parts and not fully aligned with the council's strategic direction.
  • Some of the rules do not sustain values of land and water, enable regional development and incorporate Treaty co-governance principles.
  • Some rules are confusing and difficult to meet, monitor and enforce.
  • Some activities have minor effects yet still require resource consents.
  • The Environment Court has commented on both the complexity and permissiveness of some rules and suggested they be reviewed.

  Other issues are identified in Chapter 3 of this paper.
• Review process

  A two phased approach

  Healthy Environments | He Taiao Mauriora is being broken into two phases. Phase one looks at the review of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan, while phase two focuses on the Waikato Regional Plan. It’s important to note that the council is also currently undertaking a plan change to address water quality in the Waikato and Waipā river catchments, e: Proposed Waikato Regional Plan Change 1, which will eventually also become part of the Waikato Resource Management Plan.

  Community engagement on phase two, the Waikato Regional Plan, will be held in 2020/21.

  The Regional Plan Review Committee

  A Regional Plan Review Committee has been set up to provide governance oversight of the reviews of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and Waikato Regional Plan and to recommend plan changes to the regional council for Resource Management Act Schedule 1 notification.

  The role of the committee is to:

  • review the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and Waikato Regional Plan changes up to the point of recommendation to notify the plan changes to the council
  • consider and recommend to the council acceptance of Section 32 Resource Management Act evaluation reports in support of changes to the regional plans
  • ensure that legislative obligations and limitations, including national directions relating to the review, are taken into account and complied with.

  Membership consists of:

  • six councillors, including the council chair (ex-officio with full voting rights), one of whom is the chair of the committee
  • one representative from:
  • Te Arawa River Iwi Trust
  • Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board
  • Raukawa Charitable Trust
  • Maniapoto Māori Trust Board
  • Waikato Raupatu River Trust
  • Pare Hauraki (Hauraki Collective).
• Events

  We’ll be holding a series of drop-in days, giving you the chance to make sure the plan is right for protecting, using and developing Waikato’s natural resources. Keep an eye on this page for the calendar of events in your area.
• Review timeline and planning framework