Change 1 Coastal Policy

Change 1 (Coastal Policy) was made operative and incorporated into the Regional Policy Statement (RPS) on 20 October 2015.

Change 1 (Coastal Policy) was notified as Proposed Variation 1 to the RPS in May 2012. The natural character maps and attributes for Motiti coastal waters and Okurei Point (Maketu) were still subject to appeal at the time the second generation RPS became operative. Change 1 includes maps identifying the coastal environment and areas with high natural character to meet the requirements of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 (NZCPS).

Decisions on Variation 1 were adopted by Council on 14 March 2013 with ten appeals to the Environment Court. An Environment Court decision dated 9 June 2014 granted an omnibus consent order resolving most appeals. Two remaining appeals by Ngati Makino Heritage Trust and Motiti Rohe Moana Trust were resolved by Environment Court decisions and consent orders dated 14 November 2014 and 26 April 2015.

Consent orders and environment court decisions

Here are the appeals lodged against Council’s decisions on submissions to the Proposed Regional Policy Statement (RPS) were resolved.

Forty-three appeals were lodged with the Environment Court against Council's decisions. These comprise:

• Eight appeals lodged against Council's decisions on submissions to the Coastal Environment and Water Quality and Land Use provisions of the Proposed RPS notified on Tuesday 27 March 2012.
• 25 appeals lodged against Council's decisions on the remaining parts of the Proposed RPS notified on Tuesday 14 August 2013.
• A further ten appeals were lodged against Council's decisions on Variation 1 (Coastal Policy) to the Proposed RPS notified on 26 March 2013.

Most Environment Court appeals to the Proposed RPS were resolved through mediation with twenty consent orders issued.

The remaining two discrete appeal points on Variation 1 (Coastal Policy) became appeals against Proposed Change 1 (Coastal Policy) when the approved Regional Policy Statement was made operative on 1 October 2014. These appeal points related to the natural character for two specific areas only. The final Environment Court decision on these matters was released on 28 April 2015 and a link to it is provided below.

The Natural Hazards provisions were withdrawn from the Proposed RPS on 4 September 2014 and new provisions were notified for submissions as Proposed Change 2 (Natural Hazards) on 1 October 2014.