Regional Policy Statement hearings decisions expected September

The three Independent Commissioners who recently spent five weeks hearing hundreds of submissions on one of Northland’s most important planning documents are expected to deliver their recommendations within the next two months.

Several years in the making, the Northland Regional Council’s Proposed Regional Policy Statement (RPS) identifies the significant resource management issues for the region and sets out how resources such as land, water, soil, minerals, plants, animals and structures will be managed.

It attracted about 1000 submissions during extensive public consultation and several hundred of those submitters recently took the opportunity to outline their thoughts and concerns to the commissioners at public hearings in Whangarei, Moerewa, Kaitaia and Kerikeri.

Regional council policy specialist Ben Lee says common submission themes included genetic engineering, mining and the mapping process identifying the region’s outstanding natural areas and coastal land.

Mr Lee says the five weeks of hearings ended on 01 July and the independent commissioners – who collectively boast about 80 years’ resource management experience – are currently wading through the huge amounts of information they’ve received.

“At this stage, it’s expected their recommendations will be ready to be formally presented to councillors for their consideration and adoption at a public council meeting in September.  However, given the large amount of work involved for the commissioners, we’re very much reliant on them in terms of a completion date.”

Mr Lee says the commissioners and council were grateful for the considerable time and effort submitters had put into the process.

“They’ve made an invaluable contribution to an important plan which will impact on the future management of Northland’s resources.”

He says while the Proposed RPS doesn’t set rules itself, it does filter down into district and regional plans which contain the rules around how people, businesses and industry use Northland’s resources.

Mr Lee says once the RPS is formally adopted by the regional council, submitters will still have 30 working days to appeal any aspect/s they are unhappy with to the Environment Court.

Background information about the Proposed RPS is available from the council’s website at www.nrc.govt.nz/newRPS

ENDS

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