Easier mangrove removal part of Draft Regional Plan

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Northlanders are being offered an early chance to comment on an initial draft of an important new plan that will eventually set out how the region's water, air, land and the coast are managed.

Policy Development Manager Ben Lee says the Draft Regional Plan is effectively a rule book designed to replace three existing regional plans which are now more than 10 years old.

The new draft takes into account important changes over the past decade, such as new national direction and policies made by central government. It also reflects improved knowledge of Northland's environment.

“We've attempted to strike a balance between protecting the things that Northlanders value, like clean water and air, while providing for our important economic activities – farming, horticulture, forestry, tourism and marine enterprise.”

Mr Lee says the council's Regional Policy Committee has just released the Draft Regional Plan to enable it to be effectively 'road-tested' with the community well before council moves into the formal process.

"Public feedback on the draft as it now stands will help us shape the final 'proposed plan', which we hope to notify next year."

Mr Lee says in a bid to reach as many people as possible, the council is delivering a special four-page edition of its Regional Report newsletter to more than 60,000 properties Northland-wide this month.

Mr Lee says key proposed changes in the draft plan include new limits on taking water from rivers, lakes and aquifers, making it easier to get permission for mangrove removal and new stock exclusion rules for rivers, drains, wetlands and lakes.

Aquaculture will be prohibited in sensitive areas and the new plan should make it easier to get a mooring. It also identifies new protected anchorage zones, more no-discharge areas and stricter rules on hull-fouling to better manage risks from marine pests. There will also be more targeted protection for areas of natural or cultural significance.

However, Mr Lee says the draft won’t cover subdivision or new buildings on land (these are handled by district councils), fishing quotas, Treaty of Waitangi claims or provision of new roads or upgrades to existing roads.

Mr Lee says over the past several years catchment groups have been formed from community, industry and tangata whenua representatives with an interest in those catchments.

n Feedback on the Draft Regional Plan and catchment plans can be made until 5pm on Friday September 23, including online. More information about the Draft Regional Plan is available online nrc.govt.nz/newregionalplan and the catchment management plans via nrc.govt.nz/waiorafeedback