When a new plan is proposed, you need to know when its rules start being treated as if they are already in effect. This happens when the time for people to make submissions or lodge appeals on the rules has expired. You also need to check if anyone has made submissions against the rules or lodged appeals.

If no one has made submissions against the rules or lodged appeals, the rules are treated as if they are already in effect. The same thing happens if all submissions against the rules and appeals have been dealt with, or if all submissions and appeals have been withdrawn or dismissed. However, there is an exception for proposed plans that were only notified to a limited number of people.

In those cases, the rules are not treated as if they are already in effect until decisions have been made on all submissions, as stated in clause 10(4) of Schedule 1. You should look at this clause to understand when the rules start being treated as if they are already in effect. This is an important part of how the rules in proposed plans work.