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Resource Management Act 1991

Standards, policy statements, and plans - Local authority policy statements and plans - Combined documents

80: Combined regional and district documents

You could also call this:

“Local councils can join forces to create official documents that guide how land and resources are used in their areas.”

You can work with other local authorities to create combined planning documents. These documents can cover different areas and levels of planning.

You can make a document that combines two or more of these: a regional policy statement, a regional plan (including a coastal plan), and a district plan.

If you’re a territorial authority, you can team up with other territorial authorities to make a combined district plan for all or part of your areas.

If you’re a regional council, you can work with other regional councils to create combined regional plans, policy statements, or both.

Regional councils and territorial authorities can also work together to create combined regional and district plans.

A regional council and all the territorial authorities in its region can create a document that includes a regional policy statement, regional plans, and either separate district plans for each territorial authority or one combined district plan.

When you’re making or changing a combined document, you need to follow the rules in this part of the Act. You can also use proposed regional policy statements and consider existing ones when preparing the document.

You should think about making a combined document when there are important issues that cross boundaries between different areas.

Your combined document needs to clearly show which parts are the regional policy statement, regional plan, regional coastal plan, or district plan. It should also say which local authority is in charge of each part.

You need to prepare your combined document following Schedule 1. Once a local authority approves it, it’s treated as if that authority made it just for their area.

When you’re working on a combined document, you can set up a joint committee. The rules for this are in Clauses 30 and 30A of Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM233820.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Conservation
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: Combined documents

80Combined regional and district documents

  1. Local authorities may prepare, implement, and administer the combined regional and district documents as set out in subsections (2) to (6).

  2. A local authority may prepare, implement, and administer a document that meets the requirements of 2 or more of the following:

  3. a regional policy statement:
    1. a regional plan, including a regional coastal plan:
      1. a district plan.

        1. Two or more territorial authorities may prepare, implement, and administer a combined district plan for the whole or any part of their combined districts.

        2. Two or more regional councils may prepare, implement, and administer a document that meets the requirements of the following:

        3. a regional plan, including a regional coastal plan, for the whole or any part of their combined regions:
          1. a regional policy statement, for the whole or any part of their combined regions:
            1. a regional plan, including a regional coastal plan, and a regional policy statement, for the whole or any part of their combined regions.

              1. One or more regional councils or territorial authorities may prepare, implement, and administer a combined regional and district plan for the whole or any part of their respective regions or districts.

              2. A regional council and all the territorial authorities within the region may prepare, implement, and administer a document that meets the requirements of the following:

              3. a regional policy statement for the region; and
                1. a regional plan, including a regional coastal plan, for the region; and
                  1. either—
                    1. a district plan for each of the territorial authorities; or
                      1. a combined district plan for their combined districts.

                      2. In preparing or amending a combined document, the relevant local authorities must apply the requirements of this Part, as relevant for the documents comprising the combined document.

                      3. The relevant local authorities may also, in preparing the provisions of a regional plan or a district plan, as the case may be, for a combined document that includes a regional policy statement,—

                      4. give effect to a proposed regional policy statement; and
                        1. have regard to an operative regional policy statement.

                          1. Without limiting subsections (1) to (6B), local authorities must consider the preparation of the appropriate combined document under this section whenever significant cross-boundary issues relating to the use, development, or protection of natural and physical resources arise or are likely to arise.

                          2. A combined document prepared under this section must clearly identify—

                          3. the provisions of the document that are the regional policy statement, the regional plan, the regional coastal plan, or the district plan, as the case may be; and
                            1. the objectives, policies, and methods set out or described in the document that have the effect of being provisions of the regional policy statement; and
                              1. which local authority is responsible for observing, and enforcing the observance of, each provision of the document.

                                1. A combined document prepared under this section—

                                2. must be prepared in accordance with Schedule 1; and
                                  1. when approved by a local authority is deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be a plan or regional policy statement separately prepared and approved by that authority for its region or district, as the case may be.

                                    1. Subsection (9)(b) applies whether or not the combined document is approved by any of the other local authorities concerned.

                                    2. Clauses 30 and 30A of Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002 apply to the appointment and conduct of any joint committee set up for the purposes of preparing, implementing, or administering a combined document under this section.

                                    Notes
                                    • Section 80: replaced, on , by section 66 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                                    • Section 80(6A): inserted, on , by section 65(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                                    • Section 80(6B): inserted, on , by section 65(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                                    • Section 80(7): amended, on , by section 65(2) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                                    • Section 80(11): amended, on , by section 78 of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 55).