Skip to content
Waikato District Council - Te Kaunihera aa Takiwaa o Waikato

Proposed Waikato District Plan - Stage 2 of Proposed Plan and Variation 2 to Stage 1

Public Notice of Proposed Waikato District Plan - Stage 2 of Proposed Plan and Variation 2 to Stage 1 of Proposed Plan (Natural Hazards and Climate Change)

Clause 5 of Schedule 1 of the Resource Management Act 1991

Waikato District Council has prepared Stage 2 of the Proposed Waikato District Plan which covers Natural Hazards and Climate Change (‘Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan’). As a consequence, it has also prepared Variation 2 to Stage 1 of the Proposed Waikato District Plan (“Variation 2”). Both Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and Variation 2 are now open for submissions.    

Stage 2 of Proposed Plan is the second and final stage of the Waikato District Council’s review of the Operative Waikato District Plan (“the Operative Plan”) under the Resource Management Act 1991.  The District Plan Review, through its two stages, integrates the Waikato and Franklin Sections of the Operative Plan into a single district plan with a consistent approach to growth, development and the sustainable management of natural and physical resources across the district. 

Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan includes planning provisions for natural hazards, including river flooding, flood ponding, coastal inundation and erosion, Huntly mine subsidence, slope instability, wildfire and liquefaction; as well as climate change. Coastal land at risk of inundation or erosion in the next 100 years has been mapped.  Land subject to river flooding and ponding risks has also been mapped.  Development controls in relation to land subject to natural hazards have been revised.    

Variation 2 makes minor amendments to some of the chapters of Stage 1 of the Proposed Plan to align the two stages; including a new strategic objective for climate change and natural hazards, and additional matters of discretion for activities such as subdivision and earthworks. 

Where to view Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and Variation 2, including the relevant Planning Maps

  • At all Waikato District Council offices and libraries from 27 July 2020.

If you have any questions about Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and/or Variation 2, please contact districtplan@waidc.govt.nz or 0800 492 452.

Making a Submission

Any person, including Waikato District Council, may make a submission on Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and/or Variation 2.  However, if the person could gain an advantage in trade competition through the submission, then the person may do so only if the person is directly affected by an effect of Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and/or Variation 2 that adversely affects the environment, and does not relate to trade competition or the effects of trade competition. 

You may make a submission in the following ways:

  • Download a submission form at website  www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/stage2
  • Pick up a hard copy submission form at all Waikato District Council offices and libraries
  • Request a submission form be posted to you by phoning 0800 492 452

To lodge your written or electronic submission, send to:

If you decide not to make a submission using our form, written submissions must be on Form 5 as prescribed by clause 6 of Schedule 1 of the Act.  Your submission must state whether or not you wish to be heard on your submission.

Process for further public participation

After submissions close:

  • Waikato District Council must prepare a summary of decisions requested by submitters and give public notice of the availability of this summary and where the summary and submissions can be viewed; and
  • There must be an opportunity for the following persons to make a further submission in support of, or in opposition to, the submissions already made:
    • Any person representing a relevant aspect of the public interest;
    • Any person who has an interest in the proposal greater than the general public has;
    • Waikato District Council itself; and
  • If a person making a submission asks to be heard in support of his or her submission, a hearing must be held; and
  • Waikato District Council must give its decision on the provisions and matters raised in the submissions (including its reasons for accepting or rejecting submissions) and give public notice of its decision within 2 years of notifying Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and Variation 2 and serve it on every person who made a submission at the same time; and
  • Any person who has made a submission has the right to appeal against the decisions on Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and/or Variation 2 to the Environment Court if, in relation to a provision or matter that is the subject of the appeal, the person referred to the provision or matter in the person’s submission on Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan and/or Variation 2; and the appeal does not seek the withdrawal of Stage 2 of the Proposed Plan as a whole.

Submissions close on Wednesday, 23 September 2020 at 5:00pm

Gavin Ion
Chief Executive

Top