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58B: Purposes of national planning standards
or “National planning standards help make rules about how to use land and protect the environment”
You could also call this:

“National planning standards explain rules for creating and organising plans about how to use land and water in New Zealand.”

National planning standards are important rules that guide how planning is done in New Zealand. These standards must follow national policy statements and be in line with national environmental standards, regulations, and water conservation orders.

The standards can include many things. They can set out objectives, policies, and methods for plans and regional policy statements. They can even include rules for plans. They can also tell local authorities to review certain permits and consents.

You’ll find that these standards can specify how regional policy statements and plans should be structured and what they should include. They can tell local authorities to use specific structures or include certain provisions in their documents.

The standards can apply to the whole country or just to certain areas. They can set different time frames for different local authorities to put the standards into action.

These standards might also have rules about how policy statements and plans should be available and work electronically.

Sometimes, the standards might include or refer to other important documents like national policy statements or regulations. This is done to make it easier for you to find and understand all the relevant information.

Remember, while the standards might include parts of other documents, these parts aren’t officially part of the standards themselves. They’re just there to help you understand things better.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

Next up: 58D: Preparation of national planning standards

or “Rules for making national plans that everyone can understand and follow”
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Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
National direction: National planning standards

58CScope and contents of national planning standards

  1. National planning standards must—

  2. give effect to national policy statements; and
    1. be consistent with—
      1. national environmental standards; and
        1. regulations made under this Act; and
          1. water conservation orders.

          2. National planning standards may specify—

          3. any of the matters specified in section 45A(2) and (4) (which applies as if the national planning standard were a national policy statement):
            1. objectives, policies, methods (including rules), and other provisions to be included in plans:
              1. objectives, policies, methods (but not rules), and other provisions to be included in regional policy statements:
                1. that a local authority must review, under section 128(1), a discharge, coastal, or water permit, or a land use consent required in relation to a regional rule.

                  1. For the purpose of subsection (2)(b), national planning standards may include any rules that could be included in any plan under section 68, 68A to 70A, 76, or 77A to 77D.

                  2. A national planning standard may also—

                  3. specify the structure and form of regional policy statements and plans:
                    1. direct local authorities—
                      1. to use a particular structure and form for regional policy statements and plans:
                        1. to include specific provisions in their policy statements and plans:
                          1. to choose from a number of specific provisions to be included in their policy statements and plans:
                          2. direct whether a national planning standard applies generally, to specific regions or districts, or to other parts of New Zealand:
                            1. include time frames for local authorities to give effect to the whole or part of a national planning standard, including different time frames for different local authorities:
                              1. specify where local provisions must or may be included in regional policy statements and plans:
                                1. include requirements that relate to the electronic accessibility and functionality of policy statements and plans.

                                  1. National planning standards may incorporate material by reference, and Schedule 1AA applies for the purposes of this subsection as if references to a national environmental standard, national policy statement, or New Zealand coastal policy statement included references to the national planning standards.

                                  2. National planning standards may, for ease of reference, set out (or incorporate by reference) provisions of a national policy statement, New Zealand coastal policy statement, or regulations (including a national environmental standard), but those provisions do not form part of a national planning standard for the purposes of any other provision of this Act or for any other purpose.

                                  Notes
                                  • Section 58C: inserted, on , by section 50 of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).