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 Change 3: Urban Development (2024)
With effect from 16 December 2024, Plan Change 3 (Urban Development) to the One Plan is partially 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 becoming partially operative gives the objectives and policies greater influence in guiding urban development planning across the region. There are three appeals relating to one issue (UFD-I3), one objective (UFD-O3) and one policy (UFD-P4), which is why Plan Change 3 is only partially operative at this time. With the exception of UFD-I3, UFD-O3 and UFD-P4, all remaining provisions included in Plan Change 3 are operative from 16 December 2024.
Other changes made in Plan Change 3 include correction of minor errors under clause 20A of Schedule 1 to the RMA. The minor corrections are unrelated to Plan Change 3.
To view the public notice of Plan Change 3, please click here.
More information about Plan Change 3, including the appeals is available 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.