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  1. Council »
  2. Policies and Plans »
  3. Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan

Current status

The Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan was notified for public submissions on 18 August 2023.

Hearings processes for the proposed coastal plan are expected to commence in late 2024 with the substantive hearings of submissions to commence in February 2025.

The latest information on the hearings, including Section 42A reports and associated documents can be found on the Hearings information webpage, here.

On this page:

Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan

Read the Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan and its policies, rules and methods to manage the use and allocation of resources in the coastal marine area.

Hearings for the Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan

Read the latest information on the hearings, including Section 42A and associated documents, and Expert Conferencing material .

Summary of Decisions Requested

Further submissions closed at 5pm on 29 April 2024.

Submissions and further submissions received to Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan

The submissions period closed on 14 November 2023 and 1359 submissions received of which 1252 were proforma submissions.

The period for further submissions closed on 29 April 2024 with 30 further submissions received. 

Follow the link below to read the submissions. Please note: the instructions below to help you download the proforma submissions. 

How to download the proforma submissions

  1. Navigate to the proforma submissions file at the bottom of the list.
  2. Download the 'Proforma submissions received to Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan' file to your desktop.
  3. Open the 'Proforma submissions received to Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan' file from your downloads folder with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  4. Open the 'Submissions' folder.
  5. Open the 'Inbox' folder.
  6. Open the 'Legasea proforma submissions' folder.
  7. The submissions will display in a table. You can order them into alphabetical order by clicking on the 'From' column.
  8. Open the submission you wish to read. 

Rules with immediate effect

The Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan contains certain rules that will have immediate legal effect upon notification, including all associated standards, schedules, maps and definitions.

Rules relating to discharges to air, aquaculture, historic heritage, discharges to water, and water take, use, dam or divert have immediate legal effect from 18 August 2023. All other rules (with some exceptions) have legal effect from 26 October 2023.

The following information provides details on these rules and what it means for activities that may require resource consent.

Supporting documents

The following links are to the maps, referenced documents and incorporated material used in the proposed coastal plan.

Plan stages and information

  1. Proposed plan development – 2018 to 2023
  2. Proposed plan notified – 18 August 2023
  3. Submissions on proposed plan – closed 14 November 2023
  4. Further submissions - closed 29 April 2024
  5. Hearings
  6. Decisions notified
  7. Appeals
  8. Plan operative

 

Timeline of the review process

Diagram showing Regional Coastal Plan development timeline

Development of the proposed coastal plan

Over the last five years, council has carried out a review of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan to bring it into line with national and regional policy direction while ensuring it meets the needs of Waikato communities.