Guidance for second generation planning goes live

Media statement: 1 May 2008

Structuring, organising, and writing regional and district plans is a little easier with new RMA guidance that went live today on the Quality Planning website.

New online guidance, ‘Structuring and Organising Regional and District Plans’ is provided in tandem with ‘Writing Provisions for Regional and District Plans’.

General Manager for the Local Government Group, Sue Powell says that the quality of regional and district plans produced under the Resource Management Act is of great significance to communities throughout New Zealand.

“These plans play a critical role in managing environmental effects, allocating resources, and guiding the development of our communities for periods of up to ten years at a time,” she said.
“It has been ten years since most regional and district plans were written, so many are now coming up for review. Now is the ideal time for new guidance on how to make plans more readable, effective and user friendly.”

This new guidance is part of the Ministry for the Environment’s programme to support good RMA planning practice. Central to the programme is the Quality Planning website which is operated in partnership with Local Government New Zealand, the New Zealand Planning Institute, New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and the Resource Management Law Association.

“The Ministry is now working to update the guidance on monitoring and enforcement, which will be launched later in May and July respectively,” Sue Powell adds.

The quality planning website has been operating since 2001 and is receiving around 25,000 visits per month. To read the new guidance notes and gain more and practical RMA information visit: www.qp.org.nz

Media contact: Lester Thorley, Media Advisor, Phone: 04 439 7569.