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Resource Management Act

Information for the public and business

Information for practitioners

Improving and implementing the RMA

Administration of the RMA

Call ins

Getting involved in the council plan and plan preparation process

District, city and regional plans are one of the main ways you can get involved in the Resource Management Act (RMA). Councils use regional and district/city plans to set out how they will manage the local environment.

Councils must consult with their communities when they prepare plans, review plans and consider a change to an existing plan or variation to a proposed plan. In addition, members of the community can take a part in the process and have their say on how the local environment should be managed.

In summary, the council plan preparation and plan change (or variation) process is:

1. The council notifies a proposed plan or change to an existing city, district or regional plan, or a variation to a plan that is still being developed. It does this by putting a notice in the paper, on their website and/or by sending you information in the mail.

2. You can make a written submission to the council supporting or opposing the proposed plan, plan change or variation, or provide information that you think the council should consider in making their decisions. See Making a Submission on a Proposed Plan or Plan Change.

3. The council prepares a summary of submissions and will let you know where and when you can view the report. After the summary of submissions is produced, you can make a further submission that either supports or opposes an original submission (you don’t need to have made an original submission to make a further submission). See Making a Submission on a Proposed Plan or Plan Change.

4. The council may hold a hearing if you or another submitter ask to be heard in support of your submission in your written submission. The hearing committee will consider the submissions and hear any evidence that supports them. See Appearing at a Council Plan or Plan Change Hearing. A pre-hearing meeting may also be held to sort out issues before a formal hearing.

5. The council makes a decision and tells you the outcome in a letter and in a public notice in the newspaper.

 6. You can lodge an appeal with the Environment Court within 30 working days if you are unhappy with the decision. You should seek professional advice before doing so. See Your Guide to the Environment Court. You may be eligible for Environmental Legal Assistance.

7. The proposed plan, plan change or variation becomes fully operative after the council has made its decision and all appeals, if there are any, have been resolved.

You can also view a simplified visual diagram of this process:

• Visual diagram of process as GIF image (82 KB)
• Visual diagram of process as PDF (180 KB)

Last updated: 16 January 2009