Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011

Common marine and coastal area - Interests in common marine and coastal area

12: Areas acquiring status under certain enactments may vest in Crown

You could also call this:

"Some special coastal areas can become owned by the Crown."

Illustration for Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011

You can find areas within the common marine and coastal area that get special status. These areas can be conservation areas, national parks, or reserves, as defined in the Conservation Act 1987, National Parks Act 1980, and Reserves Act 1977. The Governor-General can decide to give these areas to the Crown. When the Governor-General makes this decision, the area is no longer part of the common marine and coastal area. The decision is made through an Order in Council, which is a type of secondary legislation, as explained in the Legislation Act 2019. You can find more information about secondary legislation and its publication requirements in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019. The Governor-General makes this decision on the recommendation of the Minister of Conservation. This decision does not apply to areas with customary marine title. The area ceases to be part of the common marine and coastal area when the Order in Council comes into force.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3213283.

This page was last updated on 9 February 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationEnvironment and resources > Town planningGovernment and voting > Government departments

11: Special status of common marine and coastal area, or

"No one owns the common marine and coastal area, not even the government."

13: Boundary changes of marine and coastal area, or

"How the marine and coastal area changes when land is added or removed"

Part 2Common marine and coastal area
Interests in common marine and coastal area

12Areas acquiring status under certain enactments may vest in Crown

This section applies to any defined area within the common marine and coastal area that acquires a status of any of the following kinds:
a conservation area within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Conservation Act 1987:
a national park within the meaning of section 2 of the National Parks Act 1980:
a reserve within the meaning of section 2 of the Reserves Act 1977.

The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister of Conservation, vest in the Crown any defined area to which this section applies other than an area that is within a customary marine title area.
When an Order in Council made under this section comes into force, the defined area to which it relates ceases to be part of the common marine and coastal area.
An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

Notes

Section 12(4): replaced, on 28 October 2021, by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).