1.1 Scope and Introduction

The challenge for the Manawatū-Whanganui Region (Region) is to strike the ideal balance between using natural resources for economic and social wellbeing, while keeping the environment in good health. The Manawatū-Whanganui Regional Council’s (Regional Council) role is to find a satisfactory way to make this seemingly conflicting challenge a reality for the community.

The blueprint for this work is the One Plan. It has a lifespan of 10 years. This is an insignificant timeframe in the natural world but in this short period tangible progress must be made to meet this challenge.

This Plan is a full-scale review of the first set of resource management plans for the Region. Progress under these plans was slow because the Regional Council tried to spread its resources over all the many issues identified during development of the plans.

The Regional Council’s approach in this Plan is to focus its resources on making significant progress on the four biggest environmental issues identified for the Region. That does not mean the remaining issues identified in this Plan are unimportant, simply that they are lower priority work for the 10-year life of this Plan.

To make the One Plan compact and easy to use we have tried to keep background and explanatory information to a minimum. Further information and explanations can be found in the State of the Environment (SOE) Reports published by the Regional Council and in the technical reports and Consideration of Alternatives, Benefits and Costs (s32 report) which accompany the One Plan.

Where the meaning of the Māori and English text used in this Plan differs, the English interpretation shall be taken as the correct one.