Notified in 2007, the One Plan is the “one stop shop” resource management planning document for the Horizons Region. It combines the Regional Policy Statement, Regional Plan and Coastal Plan. The One Plan defines how the natural and physical resources of the Region, including fresh water, air, productive land and natural ecosystems, will be cared for and managed by the Regional Council in partnership with Territorial Authorities and the community.
The One Plan is split into five parts:
Part 1 contains Introductory and General Provisions. It provides context and guidance on how the plan works, summarises applicable national direction instruments and provides definitions and abbreviations to assist interpretation.
Part 2 is the Regional Policy Statement section of the One Plan. It sets out the regionally significant resource management issues (identified through a process that drew on both community and technical information), and outlines the objectives, policies and methods that will be used to address these issues.
Part 3 is the Regional Plan section of the One Plan. It specifies the controls on natural and physical resource use (that is, objectives, policies and regional rules). These controls cover both permitted activities (which allow people to use and develop resources without the need for resource consents) and the application for and issuing of resource consents.
Part 4 provides direction for the Evaluation and Monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of the One Plan.
Part 5 contains the Plan’s Appendices.
You can also access documents incorporated by reference, Statutory Acknowledgements, iwi management plans, and documents that shaped the One Plan.
Operative One Plan
Plan Amendment 5 and Plan Change 3: Urban Development (2025)
Plan Change 3: With effect from 16 May 2025, Plan Change 3 (Urban Development) to the One Plan is fully operative. Plan Change 3 includes objectives and policies to give effect to the national direction provided in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development, 2020. It includes provisions associated with providing sufficient development capacity to meet the expected demand for housing and business land, and for the planning of well-functioning urban developments. Plan Change 3 also seeks to improve the responsiveness and competitiveness of land and development markets, improve resilience to climate change, and ensure planning decisions relating to urban environments take into account Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Plan Change 3 was made partially operative on 16 December 2024, while the appeals to UFD-I3, UFD-O3 and UFD-P4 were worked through with the Environment Court. Following successful mediation, parties reached agreement on changes and confirmed these amendments to the appealed provisions resolved their appeal points. Parties filed a joint memorandum to the Environment Court, requesting consent orders be issued directing that the provisions of Plan Change 3 be amended as agreed in mediation and that the appeals are otherwise dismissed. The Environment Court issued their consent order as requested on 20 March 2025. The Horizons Strategy and Policy Committee resolved on 8 April 2025, to recommend that Council approve the amendments to Plan Change 3 and direct officers to publicly notify the remaining parts of Plan Change 3 that will become operative. Council adopted the Committees recommendations at their meeting on 29 April 2025. The resolution of appeals and approval by Council means Plan Change 3 is now fully operative from 16 May 2025.
To view the public notice of Plan Change 3, please click here.
More information about Plan Change 3, including the appeals is available here.
Plan Amendment 5: The One Plan was amended on 2 May 2025 to implement requirements from the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020. The correction of minor errors under Clause 20A of Schedule 1 to the RMA has also been undertaken as part of this Plan Amendment process.
To view the public notice of Plan Amendment 5, please click here.
The One Plan was amended on 20 September 2024 to implement requirements from the National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat 2023, the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat Regulations) 2023, and consequential changes required by the National Planning Standards. The correction of minor errors under Clause 20A of Schedule 1 to the RMA has also been undertaken as part of this Plan Amendment process.
To view the public notice of Plan Amendment 4, please click here.
Proposed Plan Change 2 is focused on the One Plan's provisions that manage nutrient loss from existing intensive farming land uses (dairy farming, commercial vegetable growing, cropping, and intensive sheep and beef) in target water management sub-zones. To find out more about the plan change, click here.
The focus of Proposed Plan Change 2 is to clarify and amend the nutrient management framework so it effectively works towards achieving the strategies for surface water quality set out in the One Plan. It will: update the cumulative nitrogen leaching maximums in Table 14.2 to reflect improvements in the nutrient modelling software tool Overseer; reinforce good management practices as part of intensive farming land use activities; and provide a workable pathway for landowners to apply for resource consent for intensive farming land use activities that cannot achieve Table 14.2 cumulative leaching maximums.