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Resource Management Act 1991

Standards, policy statements, and plans - Local authority policy statements and plans - Review

79: Review of policy statements and plans

You could also call this:

“Local authorities must regularly check and update important planning documents every 10 years to ensure they are still working well.”

If you are a local authority, you must review some documents every 10 years. These documents are a regional policy statement, a regional plan, and a district plan. You have to check if any parts of these documents need to be changed.

When you review these documents, you must follow the rules set out in Parts 1, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 and this Part. If you think a document needs to be changed, you must propose the changes. If you do not think it needs to be changed, you still have to tell the public about it.

You can review these documents at any time, not just every 10 years. When you do a review, you have to look at the whole document, not just the parts that have changed recently. If you think the document needs to be changed after reviewing it, you must make the changes according to the rules. If you do not think it needs to be changed, you still have to tell the public about it, following the same rules.

Just because a document is being reviewed, it does not mean it stops being used. As a local authority, you have to do these reviews, as well as your other job of monitoring, which is explained in section 35.

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Environment and resources > Town planning Government and voting > Local councils
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Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
Local authority policy statements and plans: Review

79Review of policy statements and plans

  1. A local authority must commence a review of a provision of any of the following documents it has, if the provision has not been a subject of a proposed policy statement or plan, a review, or a change by the local authority during the previous 10 years:

  2. a regional policy statement:
    1. a regional plan:
      1. a district plan.

        1. If, after reviewing the provision, the local authority considers that it requires alteration, the local authority must, in the manner set out in Parts 1, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 and this Part, propose to alter the provision.

        2. If, after reviewing the provision, the local authority considers that it does not require alteration, the local authority must still publicly notify the provision—

        3. as if it were a change; and
          1. in the manner set out in Parts 1, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 and this Part.

            1. Without limiting subsection (1), a local authority may, at any time, commence a full review of any of the following documents it has:

            2. a regional policy statement:
              1. a regional plan:
                1. a district plan.

                  1. In carrying out a review under subsection (4), the local authority must review all the sections of, and all the changes to, the policy statement or plan regardless of when the sections or changes became operative.

                  2. If, after reviewing the statement or plan under subsection (4), the local authority considers that it requires alteration, the local authority must alter the statement or plan in the manner set out in Parts 1, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 and this Part.

                  3. If, after reviewing the statement or plan under subsection (4), the local authority considers that it does not require alteration, the local authority must still publicly notify the statement or plan—

                  4. as if it were a proposed policy statement or plan; and
                    1. in the manner set out in Parts 1, 4, or 5 of Schedule 1 and this Part.

                      1. A provision of a policy statement or plan, or the policy statement or plan, as the case may be, does not cease to be operative because the provision, statement, or plan is due for review or is being reviewed under this section.

                      2. The obligations on a local authority under this section are in addition to its duty to monitor under section 35.

                      Notes
                      • Section 79: replaced, on , by section 64 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                      • Section 79(2): amended, on , by section 63(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 79(3)(b): amended, on , by section 63(2) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 79(6): amended, on , by section 63(3) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 79(7)(b): amended, on , by section 63(4) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).