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58F: Publication of national planning standards and other documents
or “The Minister must make sure everyone can easily find and use the rules for planning in New Zealand”

You could also call this:

“The first set of rules for how plans and policies should be written and organised”

The Minister must make sure that the first set of national planning standards is approved within 2 years of this section becoming active. These standards must include some important things called the minimum requirements. You need to have these minimum requirements:

  1. A structure for policy statements and plans. This includes mentioning relevant national policy statements, national environmental standards, and rules made under this Act.

  2. Definitions of important terms.

  3. Rules about how policy statements and plans should work on computers and be easy to access.

After the first set of standards is approved, the Minister has to make sure that these minimum requirements are always part of a planning standard. This means they will always be included, even if other parts of the standards change.

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Next up: 58H: Changing, replacing, or revoking national planning standards

or “Rules for making changes to important planning guidelines that everyone must follow”

Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
National direction: National planning standards

58GFirst set of national planning standards

  1. The Minister must ensure that a first set of national planning standards is approved not later than 2 years after the date on which this section comes into force.

  2. The first set of national planning standards must include the following minimum requirements (the minimum requirements):

  3. a structure and form for policy statements and plans, including references to relevant national policy statements, national environmental standards, and regulations made under this Act; and
    1. definitions; and
      1. requirements for the electronic functionality and accessibility of policy statements and plans.
        1. The Minister must ensure that, at all times after the approval of the first set of national planning standards, the minimum requirements are included in a planning standard.

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