Relevant Planning Documents

National:

They key Act that sets out all the resource consent requirements and processes is the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). It applies throughout all of New Zealand.

More information on the Resource Management Act 1991

Other national regulations that might be relevant to your activity are:

• National Policy Statements (including freshwater, greenhouse gas, coastal, urban development etc.)
• National Environmental Standards (including contaminated soil, aquaculture, telecommunications etc.)
• Various Acts (including Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011.

The MFE Website/ Acts and Regulations has links to most of these documents: MFE Website.

Regional/Local:

The regulations that are specific to the Nelson City Council area are spelled out in the following Nelson City Council Planning Documents.

• Nelson Regional Policy Statement (RPS)
• Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP)
• Nelson Air Quality Plan (NAQP)

The Nelson Policy Statement sets broad policy guidelines.

The NRMP divides the region into different Zones (eg industrial, residential, rural, commercial) then for each Zone there are specific policies and rules that apply to a whole range of different activities, saying which are permitted and which require resource consent. The NRMP is the primary planning document for Nelson City Council.

The NAQP has policies and rules relating to air quality and discharges. It divides the region into different Air Sheds which have different rules that apply for discharges into air (e.g. from industrial sites or from domestic woodburners).

Nelson Regional Policy Statement (RPS)

Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP)

The NRMP is the primary plan for Nelson City Council. It is now an e-Plan, an electronic plan. If you wish to view a paper copy you can do so at the Council customer service centre.

Nelson Air Quality Plan (NAQP)

There are also proposed amendments to the NRMP known as Plan Changes. Once they have been through due process and are agreed they become incorporated into the NRMP.

There are currently two Plan Changes in process (Dec 2024) – Plan Change 30 (Airport), Plan Change 29 (Housing)

There are also a number of local iwi management plans lodged with Council.

When you prepare your resource consent application you need to identify which of these Planning documents are relevant (not all will be), which sections are relevant to your application, and in particular which section and rule triggers the need for a consent.