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Planning Bill

Key roles - Ministerial intervention - Central government

203: Minister may direct preparation of plan, document, change, or variation

You could also call this:

"The Minister can ask a council to create or change a plan to follow the rules."

Illustration for Planning Bill

The Minister can tell a territorial authority to prepare a plan or document. You need to know the Minister can also tell them to change or vary a plan. The Minister must give them a reasonable amount of time to do this. The Minister can only give a direction if they have investigated the issue. They must have also made recommendations to the territorial authority. This is unless the Minister has evidence the authority is not doing its job. If a territorial authority does not follow a national direction, the Minister can step in. The Minister can tell them to prepare a document or amend one. They must give a reasonable amount of time to do this. The Minister can also tell a territorial authority to prepare a plan change. This is to address any non-compliance with a national direction. They must give a reasonable amount of time to notify the plan change. The Minister must investigate and make recommendations before giving a direction. This is to ensure the territorial authority is following the rules. You can find more information about this in section 201 of the Act.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1557658.

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Environment and resources > Town planningGovernment and voting > Local councils
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Part 5Key roles
Ministerial intervention: Central government

203Minister may direct preparation of plan, document, change, or variation

  1. The Minister—

  2. may direct a territorial authority—
    1. to prepare a land use plan that addresses a planning or land use issue relating to a function in section 185; or
      1. to prepare a change to its land use plan that addresses the issue; or
        1. to prepare a variation to its proposed land use plan that addresses the issue; and
        2. must, in giving a direction, specify a reasonable period within which the change or variation must be notified.

          1. However, the Minister must not issue a direction under subsection (1) unless—

          2. the Minister has investigated the territorial authority under section 201(1)(a) or (c) in relation to the planning or land use issue; and
            1. the Minister has made recommendations to the territorial authority under section 201(1)(b) or (d) in relation to the planning or land use issue.

              1. The Minister is not required to comply with the requirement in subsection (2)(a) if the Minister has reasonable evidence that a territorial authority is not exercising or performing the relevant functions, powers, or duties under this Act.

              2. In subsection (3), reasonable evidence means—

              3. the territorial authority has published 1 or more of the following, which establish that it does not intend to exercise or perform the relevant functions, powers, or duties:
                1. a resolution:
                  1. a written statutory document; or
                  2. there is evidence of the territorial authority’s failure to comply with statutory time frames in this Act.

                    1. If a national direction requires a territorial authority to prepare a document other than a plan or policy statement and the authority has not prepared the document as required, the Minister—

                    2. may direct the authority to—
                      1. prepare the document; or
                        1. amend the document to meet the requirements of the national direction; and
                        2. must, in giving a direction, specify a reasonable period within which the document must be prepared or amended.

                          1. The Minister—

                          2. may direct a territorial authority to—
                            1. prepare a plan change or variation to address any non-compliance with a national direction; and
                              1. use the planning process under this Act to prepare the plan change or variation; and
                              2. must, in giving a direction, specify a reasonable period within which the plan change or variation must be notified.

                                1. However, the Minister must not make a direction under subsection (5) or (6) unless—

                                2. the Minister has investigated the territorial authority under section 201(1)(c) in relation to the non-compliance with the national policy statement; and
                                  1. the Minister has made recommendations to the territorial authority under section 201(1)(d) in relation to that non-compliance.