FAQs
How close to the boundary you can build or extend your house, garage or other buildings.
How many dwellings you can have on your property.
Whether you can subdivide your property.
Whether there are any 'special values' relating to your property such as cultural, historic or ecological.
Whether you can operate a business from your home.
The organisation of festivals and events.
- Building development and earthworks
- Land use activities such as residential, retail and industrial activities
- Subdivision of land and associated earthworks
- Protecting historic heritage and natural areas
- Managing natural hazards
- Hazardous substances
- Contaminated land
- Noise control
- Activities on the surface of water in rivers and lakes
- Soil conservation
- The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water
- The maintenance of the quantity of water
- The maintenance and enhancement of ecosystems in water
- The taking, using, damming and diversion of water
- Discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air, or water and discharges of water into water
- Activities in the coastal marine area (below the high tide mark)
What is the District Plan and why do we have one?
A District Plan is a document which sets out the guidance and rules on how you can use and develop your land. It helps determine where activities can take place in the District, under what restrictions and what natural and cultural features should be protected.
Under the Resource Management Act 1991 every district council in New Zealand is required to have a district plan. District plans are important planning documents identifying the key resource management issues in the District, what the community wants to be done about the issues and ways to achieve the outcome we want.
How does this affect me?
The District Plan affects the way you and your neighbours can use and develop your properties. It identifies a range of activities that are anticipated in the district, where they should occur and regulates these activities through the objectives, policies, rules, explanations and definitions.
The positive outcomes achieved through the District Plan generally go unnoticed for most people and it is often not until someone wants to start a new activity or redevelop their property that they become aware of the district plan regulations and the intended outcomes.
Some common ways the District Plan can affect property owners are:
What issues does the District Plan deal with?
The District Plan plays a big part in how the District develops, addressing such diverse issues as character, amenity, heritage and landscape, open spaces, urban growth, subdivision and coastal management.
The District Plan says how Council will manage significant resource management issues. This might include:
It also manages more minor matters such as the minimum distance a garage should be located from a property boundary.
Why is the District Plan being reviewed?
It is a legal requirement under the Resource Management Act that we review the District Plan every 10 years. The timing to understand current issues and opportunities is essential now, given the District Plan has been operative since 2012.
The District Plan is Council’s most important tool for managing growth and development across the District and within the sub-region. The western Bay of Plenty sub-region is recognised nationally as one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand. It is increasingly important that our planning framework and tools are fit for purpose and aligned with the current and future needs of our communities.
A review now has added relevance, as it will help inform our responses and implementation of national direction on matters such as housing needs and urban development, and highly productive land. While the way forward and application of plan making processes may deviate from a typical District Plan Review process, having a korero with our communities is still the first step.
How does this project work alongside the changes expected through the Resource Management Reform?
In February 2021 the government confirmed it would repeal and replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) which has been in place for the past 30 years. The government’s announcement confirmed that the RMA would be replaced by three new acts:
• Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA), to protect and restore the environment while better enabling development, as the primary replacement for the RMA
• Strategic Planning Act (SPA), to help coordinate and integrate decisions made under relevant legislation, through requiring the development of long-term regional spatial strategies; and
• Climate Adaptation Act (CAA), to address complex issues associated with managed retreat.
These three pieces of legislation will bring about transformational change to Council’s functions and responsibilities and will no longer require Council to produce a District Plan. The elements of the District Plan will be reformed and combined into one regional plan for the whole of the Bay of Plenty consistent with the requirements of the new legislation.
The timing for Council to review how we are addressing growth management issues is upon us now. Any work focussed on scoping, engaging and determining our key issues and topics across the District with key stakeholders and the community will be just as relevant to feed into a review of the District Plan as they would be relevant to a new regional planning system.
The need to maintain momentum in delivering resource management outcomes across the District is just as important now as we continue to experience high levels of growth and demand pressure for our natural and built environments.
What issue doesn't the District Plan deal with?
Under the Resource Management Act, the District Plan does not address the following matters. Bay of Plenty Regional Council considers these matters in its Regional Policy Statement, Regional Coastal Policy Plan and Regional Plan.
How long will the review take?
The district plan review is a complex process. While we plan to carry this work out through until the end of 2024, we are ready to adapt to government changes and resource management reform along the way. For that reason, our long term project timing will likely alter alongside the expected legislation changes.
See timeline above for more details.
Do we have complete control over developing a new District Plan?
No we don’t.
Central Government and Bay of Plenty Regional Council release policies that provide legal direction for key areas in all councils’ District Plans.
These govern issues like urban development, the protection of indigenous plant and animal habitats and the identification of historic heritage. Council is legally required to follow these policies.