A goodGround Guide to Resource Consents: Part 2
District and Regional Plans
The RMA requires councils to create plans that help them manage the environment. These plans contain all sorts of rules and conditions for activities that might affect the environment. District and regional plans are one of the most important aspects of the RMA. The RMA says that councils have to prepare plans to help them manage the environment in their area. It is these plans that tell you what you can or cannot do as of right, and there are several different types.
Regional plans, (created by a regional council), tend to concentrate on particular parts of the environment, like the coast, soil, a river or the air. They set out how discharges or activities involving these resources will be managed to stop the resources being degraded or polluted, for example, the construction of jetties, and the discharge of wastewater from factories into waterways.
District plans, (created by a city or district council), concern the use and development of land and contaminated land and set out the policies and rules a council will use to manage the use of land in its area, for example subdivision, noise, and the location and height of buildings.soil, a river or the air. They set out how discharges or activities involving these resources will be managed to stop the resources being degraded or polluted, for example, the construction of jetties, and the discharge of wastewater from factories into waterways.
By looking at these plans you will be able to find out if you need to get a resource consent for the activity you want to do. The Plans, usually through rules, state whether an activity is permitted, meaning you can do it as of right, or whether it requires a resource consent. Just to make it more confusing sometimes you’ll need to apply for a resource consent from both the regional and district/city council.
