The hearing panels have made changes to the Proposed One Plan after considering all the submissions made and evidence presented to them. The decision records these changes and the reasons for them. The decision also records what the panels have decided in relation to every submission or further submission. It is also sometimes referred to as “the decisions”.
The decision was released on Tuesday 24 August 2010 and notified by public notice in newspapers around the Region from that day. Everyone who made a submission or further submission has been sent a notification letter.
There are five volumes, as follows:
Volume 1 - Reasons for the Decisions
In this volume, the hearings panels describe the decisions they made and the evidence and submissions that influenced those decisions.
Volume 2 - Decisions on the Individual Submissions and Further Submissions
This volume lists the points made in the submissions and further submissions, and whether the panels decided to accept or reject each point.
Volume 3 - Marked-up Version of the Proposed One Plan
This volume shows the changes made by the panels to the May 2007 version of the Proposed One Plan, by striking out what has been removed and underlining the new material.
Volume 4 - Clean Version of the Proposed One Plan
This volume is the August 2010 version of the Proposed One Plan.
Volume 5 - Some of the Documents Incorporated by Reference into the Proposed One Plan
This volume includes two Horizons Regional Council documents that were incorporated by reference in the May 2007 version of the Proposed One Plan, and shows the changes that have been made by striking out what has been removed and underlining the new material.
The decisions are available to read or download by following the links at www.horizons.govt.nz/one-plan
Paper copies can be viewed at
| Horizons Regional Council 11-15 Victoria Avenue Palmerston North |
| and |
| Horizons Regional Council 181 Guyton Street Wanganui |
and at public libraries throughout the region.
Yes, you can download all or part of the decisions by following the links at www.horizons.govt.nz/one-plan A full copy of the decisions, in electronic format (CD), can be posted to you. To request a copy of the decisions on CD, contact us.
The panels’ decisions whether to accept or reject points made in submissions and further submissions are listed in Volume 2 of the decisions. The easiest way to find out how the panel responded to your submission is using either the online or CD version, and searching for the name the submission was made under. There may be more than one entry as some submissions have been split up into topics.
If you made a submission or further submission on the Proposed One Plan then you can appeal the decision to the Environment Court (not Horizons Regional Council) about any matter or provision you referred to in your decision.
Horizons Councillors do not have any power to change the decision, only the Court.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Amendment to Form 7
Please note that due to amendments to the Resource Management (Forms, Fees and Procedure) Regulations 2003, from 1 November 2010 all appeals to the Proposed One Plan filed with the Environment Court are to be filed on Form 7 as amended from that date.
The amended version of Form 7 will be available for download from 1 November 2010 from www.legislation.govt.nz.
To lodge an appeal you need to use Form 7, and this should be lodged with the Environment Court. The “note to appellant” in Form 7 provides further information on the filing and service requirements for a Notice of Appeal. Please note that Horizons Regional Council sought changes to the filing and service requirements from the Environment Court to give submitters more time to consider the decision and help make the process a little easier. The Environment Court agreed to the following changes:
1. the time limit for lodging a notice of appeal to the Environment Court and sending a copy to Horizons Regional Council has been extended from 30 working days to 60 working days; and
2. the requirement to provide a copy of the decision (or part of the decision) with the notice of appeal is waived (clause (b) of Form 7).
To view a copy of the waiver click here.
The cost of lodging an appeal is $500 including GST.
For more information about the Environment Court and making an appeal, you can look at the Ministry for the Environment Guide to the Environment Court or Environmental Defence Society’s RMAGuide website.
Appeals must be lodged within 60 working days of notification of the decision - the final date will vary depending on when you received the notice, but the date will be around 17 November 2010.
The August 2010 version of the Proposed One Plan is the most up to date version and includes the current rules, policies and objectives for the Region.
Documents incorporated by reference are publications which have been referred to in the Proposed One Plan and that have standards or rules that have to be complied with.
Most of the documents can be viewed online, and full sets of the documents incorporated by reference are also available for viewing at
| Horizons Regional Council | Horizons Regional Council |
| 11-15 Victoria Avenue | 181 Guyton Street |
| Palmerston North | Wanganui |
You can also arrange to view the documents at any Horizons depot or office around the region by calling 0508 800 800.
The hearings panels decided to remove some of the objectives, policies and rules in the Proposed One Plan, and to add some new ones. This means that in places they have taken out a number or created a new one. You can see what’s happened very clearly by looking at the same chapter in Volume 3.
The Proposed One Plan weaves together the six separate plans and Regional Policy Statement we currently have into one easy-to-use document. When the final One Plan is adopted it will provide us with an environmental roadmap, directing how we manage the Region's resources for the next 10 years.
The Proposed One Plan is about managing the use of natural resources. Planning for other things, such as transport, emergency management and pest control are dealt with in other Council plans and strategies.
Yes. Once the Proposed One Plan is fully notified it will replace the existing Regional Policy Statement and six Regional Plans which cover Air, Water, Land, Beds of Rivers and Lakes and the Coast.
A proposed plan is a document that has been issued by the Council and 'proposed' as the official position of the Council before submissions are received. To be legally proposed, a document must be 'publicly notified' under the Resource Management Act 1991 so people can make submissions.
In the planning sense, a policy is defined as a 'course of action' - a description of the things that need to be done to achieve a desired environmental outcome. Policies guide Councils in making their decisions, including decisions on resource consent applications. To enact a policy the Council can use a range of different methods - some are regulatory (rules) and others non-regulatory (e.g. offering incentives, information and advice, and working with community groups).