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Planning Bill

Enforcement and other matters - Miscellaneous - Joint regional and district planning documents

292: Joint regional and district planning documents

You could also call this:

"Local councils work together to create joint plans for their areas"

Illustration for Planning Bill

The proposed law wants you to know that local authorities should work together to create planning documents. You will see local authorities considering whether they can prepare and implement planning documents with other authorities. This is to help with national instruments and to address issues that affect multiple areas. The law says a local authority can create a document that meets some requirements, such as a regional spatial plan, a natural environment plan under the Natural Environment Act 2025, or a land use plan. You might see two or more local authorities working together to create a joint plan for their regions or districts. This can include a joint regional spatial plan or a joint land use plan. Local authorities can work together in different ways to create planning documents, such as a regional council and territorial authorities creating a joint plan. The proposed law encourages local authorities to work together to address issues that affect their areas. You should be aware that the law is trying to help local authorities work together to create planning documents that meet their needs.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1555830.

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Topics:
Environment and resources > Town planningGovernment and voting > Local councilsHousing and property > Land use
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Part 6Enforcement and other matters
Miscellaneous: Joint regional and district planning documents

292Joint regional and district planning documents

  1. The purpose of this section is to encourage local authorities to work together to prepare, implement, and administer planning documents.

  2. Each local authority must, from time to time, consider whether preparing, implementing, and administering planning documents with another local authority in accordance with subsections (3) to (7)—

  3. would better enable the implementation of national instruments:
    1. would be appropriate in order to address any significant cross-boundary issues relating to the use, development, or protection of natural and physical resources that arise or are likely to arise.

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

      2. a regional spatial plan:
        1. a natural environment plan under the Natural Environment Act 2025:
          1. a land use plan.

            1. Two or more local authorities may prepare, implement, and administer a joint regional spatial plan for the whole or any part of their combined regions.

            2. Two or more territorial authorities may prepare, implement, and administer a joint land use plan for the whole or any part of their combined districts.

            3. One or more regional councils or territorial authorities may prepare, implement, and administer a joint regional spatial plan and land use plan for the whole or any part of their respective regions or districts.

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

            5. a regional spatial plan:
              1. a natural environment plan under the Natural Environment Act 2025:
                1. either—
                  1. a land use plan for each of the territorial authorities; or
                    1. a joint land use plan for their combined districts.