Bay of Plenty Regional Council is preparing changes to the objectives, policies and rules in the controlling how freshwater and land is used.
- We are making changes to the sections of the Regional Policy Statement and the Regional Plan to do with freshwater. In particular, we are:
- Addressing quality of water in lakes, rivers and streams, and how we manage activities on land and water to maintain or improve water quality.
- Revising water allocation limits and identifying minimum flows and levels in rivers, lakes or groundwater Addressing water flows and levels in rivers, lakes and groundwater, how much water can be taken for different uses, and when water use might need to be constrained or stop.
- Addressing fish passage, wetlands and activities in the beds of waterbodies to avoid loss of extent and values of rivers and wetlands.
- We are making changes to the Regional Plan to align with new national regulations and planning standards.
- All land and water parts of the Regional Natural Resources Plan are being reviewed including Discharges to Water and Land, Activities in Beds of Waterbodies, Wetlands, Water Quantity and Allocation, and Land Management chapters. They will also be aligned with new structure and format set by National Planning Standards.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council must also implement national freshwater related regulations and cannot change them. We will make sure our Regional Plan aligns with them and, in some cases, we can set more stringent rules. Some FMUs have more complex environmental issues than others and will need bigger changes than others.
We are continuing work on draft policy options and will seek feedback from the community between April and September 2023. Feedback can be provided via our online platform, in person at community meetings, or in writing via post.
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