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Planning
Committee
01 August 2017
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Feedback on
National Planning Standards discussion papers
File No.: CP2017/14281
Purpose
1. Council staff have submitted formal feedback to the Ministry for the
Environment on the first set of National Planning Standards discussion papers.
The council’s delegations require this feedback to be presented to the
Planning Committee. As noted in the report, there will be an opportunity for
the council to make a formal submission on the draft planning standards
themselves in April 2018.
Executive
summary
2. The
Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (the Amendment Act) introduced a new
type of national direction in the form of national planning standards.
3. National
Planning Standards seek to improve the consistency of resource management plans
and policy statements. The standards will set out the structure, format and
some content for all plans prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991.
These standards may apply generally or to specific regions, districts or parts
of New Zealand.
4. The
Amendment Act specifies the timeframe for councils to give effect to the
standards. However standards can specify different timeframes, including
different timeframes that can apply to different councils.
5. The
Minister for the Environment has two years to get the first set of standards
approved which must cover, as a minimum:
· a
standard structure and form for policy statements and plans, including how
plans reference national directions including national policy statements,
national environmental standards and regulations;
· standardised
definitions; and
· the
requirements for electronic functionality and accessibility of plans and policy
statements.
6. During
the preparation phase, the Ministry for the Environment is consulting in a
number of ways, including nine discussion papers seeking feedback. The council
has for the last year been actively involved through officer input into review
groups. Focus at the request of Ministry for the Environment has been on the
impact of the standards on the Auckland Unitary Plan. Feedback on the
nine discussion papers has been drafted for committee approval. This feedback
supports the timetabled release of the draft planning standards for the formal
statutory submission phase commencing in April 2018.
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Recommendation
That the Planning Committee:
a) endorse
the feedback submitted by council staff to the Ministry for the Environment
on the first set of National Planning Standards discussion papers appended in
Attachment B to the agenda report.
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Comments
7. The
Resource Legislation (Amendment Act 2017) introduced a new type of national
direction in the form of national planning standards, known in the preceding
Bill as national planning templates.
8. National
Planning Standards seek to achieve national consistency in plans and policy
statements prepared under the Resource Management Act 1991 (the Act). The
standards will set out requirements or provisions relating to any aspect of the
structure, format, or content of plans or policy statement. The standards may
apply generally or to specific regions, districts or parts of New Zealand.
9. Different
timeframes apply to the implementation of the first set of standards. If the
standard is mandatory then the council has one year[1] from gazettal of
the standard to change their plan in accordance with that standard (unless the
standard specifies a longer timeframe). For standards that contain
discretionary directions, a schedule 1[2]
process under the Act is required (ie submissions and hearings) and amendments
must be made within 5 years of gazettal (unless a different timeframe is
specified in the standard).
10. National
planning standards must give effect to national policy statements and be
consistent with any national environmental standard, any Resource Management
Act regulations and water conservation orders [3].
11. Since
the enactment of the Act in 1991 hundreds of plans have been developed that
reflect local circumstances and community values. As a result of this process,
central government did not anticipate the degree of variation in how these
plans look and function i.e. the core structural elements. The Ministry for the
Environment considers that this unnecessary plan variation makes plans costly
and time consuming to prepare as well as difficult for plan users to interpret
and understand.
12. The
Amendment Act requires that the first set of planning standards must include,
as a minimum, a structure and form for plans, definitions and the requirements
for the electronically functionality and accessibility of plans. It is likely
that this first set of standards will also relate to spatial layers, metrics,
administrative provisions, mapping as well as consistency in how national
direction is incorporated.
Process for developing the standards
13. The
content and drafting of the first set of standards by the Ministry for the
Environment will be developed over a two year period as set out in Attachment
A.
14. Ministry
for the Environment staff have been busy engaging with planners, particularly
from councils, whilst developing the discussion papers. Auckland Council staff
have attended numerous meetings and workshops to provide insight on the
functioning of the Auckland Unitary Plan through its evolution. Council staff
will continue to participate in these forums to help Ministry staff understand
the characteristics of our plan.
Potential Impact on the Auckland Unitary
Plan
15. The
introduction of National Planning Standards could have a significant impact on
the council. Depending on the scale and timing of changes needed to the
Auckland Unitary Plan, the National Planning Standards could trigger a full
review of the Auckland Unitary Plan up to five years earlier than would
otherwise be timetabled.
16. As
mentioned in the 4 July 2017 committee report on the council’s statutory
work programme, implementing the National Planning Standards could be a
determining factor in the council’s decision on whether to embark on a
rolling review or a full review of the Auckland Unitary Plan. The National
Planning Standards, as currently proposed in the discussion documents, would be
difficult to incorporate into the Auckland Unitary Plan without triggering
broad scale plan changes that re-open policy debates that have only recently
been resolved.
17. Officers are focused on achieving consistency between the National
Planning Standards and the Auckland Unitary Plan so that implementing the
standards does not cause large scale plan changes that become akin to a full
review of the Plan. This approach will continue through the upcoming formal
submission phase starting April 2018. Officers are mindful of the need for the
planning resources of the council to be focused on the management of growth and
the environment and not unnecessarily deployed on intensive and complex
planning processes needed to support the implementation of these National
Planning Standards.
Consideration
Local
board views and implications
18. This matter
is a central government regulatory issue and staff did not seek any local board
viewpoints.
Māori
impact statement
19. The
National Planning Standards generally only cover matters that affect the
structure and functioning of the Plan. In Appendix 1 of the Discussion Paper on
the introduction to the planning standards the idea of standardising Māori provisions is raised. No content
has been provided on this as the Ministry for the Environment is exploring this
possibility further in consultation with iwi.
20. The
National Planning Standards will either require the council to change the
Auckland Unitary Plan as a mandatory direction without using the Schedule 1 process
under the Act or as a discretionary direction using the Schedule 1 process.
Decisions about which planning standards are mandatory and which components are
discretionary have not been made yet. Should the Schedule 1 process apply, the council’s legal requirement to consult with iwi who may be
affected by any plan change prepared under Schedule 1 of the Act will ensure
that any likely impacts on Māori can be considered.
Implementation
21. Attachment A
sets out the timeframe for developing the National Planning Standards.
The first set of draft standards is to be notified after April 2018. The
council will then have the ability to consider the full impact these standards
are likely to have on the Auckland Unitary Plan. Any formal submission on
these standards as notified in April 2018 will be reported to this committee.
Attachments
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No.
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Title
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Page
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a⇩ 
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Attachment A: Development Phases for Preparing
the National Planning Standards
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9
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b⇩
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Attachment B: Auckland Council Feedback on
Discussion Documents on the National Planning Standards
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11
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Signatories
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Author
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Linley Wilkinson, Lead Planner, Auckland-wide Planning
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Authorisers
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John Duguid - General Manager - Plans and Places
Jim Quinn - Chief of Strategy
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