Te Mahere Takutai Moana ā-Rohe o Waikato e Marohitia Nei Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan

The Hearings Panel is responsible for hearing and deliberating on submissions to the proposed coastal plan, and then making recommendations to the council.

Selection criteria for the panel included accreditation for decision making under the Resource Management Act and an understanding of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement and Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act.

The independent commissioners appointed have a proven record of understanding complex resource management issues and a familiarity with coastal policy issues.

Greg Hill (chair)
Greg Hill is an independent hearings commissioner and resource management planner/consultant. He has extensive experience chairing a wide range of plan making and resource consent hearings under the Resource Management Act. He was the General Manager Policy and Planning at the Auckland Regional Council (including the coastal function) and was the project manager and one of the principal authors of the first Auckland Coastal Plan. One of his most significant commissioner roles was with Waikato Regional Council’s Healthy Rivers/Wai Ora Plan Change 1.

Hugh Leersnyder
Hugh Leersnyder is an independent hearings commissioner with extensive experience in applied environmental planning and resource management. He has technical expertise in biological and physical sciences as well as wide and varied experience in soil, water and coastal resource management. He held the position of Manager – Coastal Environment with Auckland Regional Council for 12 years, leading a team of coastal planners, scientists and other resource management professionals to manage the resources of the coastal environment in a balanced and integrated manner.

Vicki Morrison-Shaw
Of Ngāpuhi descent, Vicki Morrison-Shaw is an experienced Resource Management Act commissioner and senior environmental barrister who specialises in resource management and Māori law issues. She has broad experience across a range of different roles, including within law firms, a specialist iwi consultancy firm and for a local authority. She currently convenes the New Zealand Law Society Environmental Law Committee and is the interim convenor of Te Hunga Rōia Taiao Komiti.

Warren Maher
Warren Maher is the Thames-Coromandel constituency member for the Waikato Regional Council. Warren is chair of the council’s Strategy and Policy Committee and Submissions Subcommittee and also sits on the risk and assurance, integrated catchment and CE employment and remuneration committees. He has lived and run an electrical contracting business in Tairua for 30 years. Warren has been President of the Tairua Pauanui Sports Fishing Club and Vice President of the NZ Sports Fishing Council. He is also the council representative on the Hauraki Gulf Forum.

Stuart Kneebone
Stuart Kneebone is a Waipā-King Country constituency member for the Waikato Regional Council and has been a councillor for the past 12 years. He is co-chair of the Waikato River Authority and Crown appointee as well as co-chair of the Te Nehenehenui Co-Governance Forum. Stu is also a local farmer involved in initiatives that contribute towards catchment health, water quality and biodiversity enhancement in the Waikato region. Over the years, he has spent a lot of time boating and diving in Mercury Bay.

The coastal plan contains maps identifying areas specific to certain provisions.

• Read the quick guide to using Waikato maps
• View the maps

Under Section 32 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), the council is required to assess the extent to which each objective proposed in the coastal plan is the most appropriate to achieve the purpose of the RMA and by assessing efficiency and effectiveness, which policies, rules and methods are the most appropriate to achieve the plan’s objectives (refer to Section 32 of the RMA here).

• Read the Section 32 Evaluation report here

Development of the coastal plan has been supported by technical assessments, reports and background content which can be reviewed in the reports below.

Section 35 Report - Effectiveness and efficiency of the Waikato Regional Coastal Plan - Place Group (2021) [PDF, 939 KB]

An economic assessment of establishing a coastal occupation charging regime in the Region, Waikato Regional Council Internal Report Series 2021/06, Upananda Paragahawewa, May 2021

Waikato Regional Coastal Plan: Economic Assessment of Bonds, Waikato Regional Council Internal Series 2022/04, Blair Keenan, Waikato Regional Council, January 2022

Iwi management plans - Waikato region

Guidance for identifying water quality, benthic, and hydrodynamic monitoring requirements for non-finfish aquaculture in the Waikato region, Hilke Giles, Pisces Consulting, June 2023, Draft Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 23-14

Monitoring environmental effects of mussel farming (spat catching and on-growing) in the Waikato region, Waikato Regional Council Internal Series 2021/18, Hilke Giles, Pisces Consulting, June 2021

Video survey of a potential aquaculture area in the outer Firth of Thames, Waikato Regional Council Internal Series Report 2023/02

Landscape Assessment Western Coromandel Aquaculture Management Area - Boffa Miskell, May 2023

Marine biosecurity risks arising from activities/stressors within the Waikato coastal marine area, TR 2020/09

Impacts of seabed disturbance in the Waikato region, Sim-Smith et al 2022 – Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 2023/04

Waikato Regional Coastal Plan: Significant Indigenous Biodiversity Areas – Approach to developing the SIBA overlay

Desk top study – Background for Heritage Appendix, Sian Keith Archaeology, December 2018

Natural Character Study of the Waikato Coastal Environment, Boffa Miskell, Revision 02A June 2023

Waikato Regional Seascape Study within the CMA, Boffa Miskell, June 2023

Mooring Area Review – Whangamatā, Tairua, Paku, Slipper Island, Opoutere

Mooring Area Review– Mercury Bay, Whitianga, Flaxmmill Bay, Cooks Beach, Purangi, Hahei, Matapaua, Opito, Great Mercury Island, Whangapoua, Matarangi, Brophy’s beach, Wharekaho

Mooring Area Review – Raglan, Lorenzen Bay, Port Waikato

Mooring Area Review - Coromandel Harbour – Takawhare Bay, Puhi Rare Bay, Wyuna and McGregor Bay, Te Kouma Harbour, Port Charles, Kennedy Bay, Long Bay, Oamaru Bay

Adapt and thrive: Building a climate-resilient New Zealand – New Zealand's first national adaptation plan, Ministry for the Environment, 2022

Coastal Hazards and Climate Change – Guidance for Local Government. Ministry for Environment, 2017

Interim guidance on the use of new sea-level rise projections, Ministry for the Environment, 2022

Surf breaks of regional significance in the Waikato region, Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 2017/19

Waikato stormwater management guidelines, Waikato Regional Council Technical Report 2020/07

Assessment of Firth of Thames Water Quality 2021, Dr John Zeldis (NIWA)  

Waikato Regional Council coastal water quality – part 2 - summary and interpretation of Waikato Regional Council guidelines, standards and monitoring data, Waikato Regional Council Internal Series 2016/12

Waikato Regional Council coastal water quality – part 3 - policy requirements and recommendations for monitoring, Waikato Regional Council Internal Series 2016/13

Hauraki Gulf Forum - State of our Gulf 2020

Summary of Green and Cornelisen’s (2016) Review of Ecological Thresholds and Options for Developing Marine Water Quality Standards for the Waikato Region, Streamlined Environmental 2017

Internal memo - Recommendations for Water Quality standards for coastal plan review October 2021

State of coastal water quality on the west coast of the Waikato region 1994-2021. Waikato Regional Council Internal Series 2021/17

Internal memo - Defining assimilative capacity for coastal water bodies in the Waikato Region October 2021

Internal Memo - State of the Whiritoa Lagoon - update 2022, M Townsend, Waikato Regional Council

Material incorporated by reference in the proposed coastal plan is listed below.

Integrated management

• Vision and Strategy for the Waikato River

• Waikato Navigation Safety Bylaw [PDF, 9.8 MB]

Biosecurity

• New Zealand Marine Pest ID Guide
• Unwanted Organisms Register
• Waikato Regional Pest Management Plan

Ecosystems and indigenous biodiversity

• New Zealand Threat Classification Systems lists

Noise and vibration

• ISO 2922:2020 - Acoustics — Measurement of airborne sound emitted by vessels on inland waterways and harbours
• New Zealand Standard 6801:2008 Acoustics – Measurement of Environmental Sound
• New Zealand Standard 6802:2008 Acoustics – Environmental noise
• New Zealand Standard 6803:1999 Acoustics – Construction noise
• New Zealand Standard 6808:2010 Acoustics – Wind farm noise

Water quality and discharges

• Default Guideline values in ANZG (2018)

The Resource Management Act (RMA) requires the coastal plan to be reviewed every 10 years to update provisions, as necessary, and take into account legislative changes and national and regional policy direction.

The Coastal Plan became operative in 2005 and a lot has changed since then.

• It does not fully implement some statutory documents, e.g. New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, and national policy statements and environmental standards
• Some of the rules in the plan do not sustain values of the coastal marine area, enable regional development, or incorporate Treaty Settlement obligations
• It’s also been identified as confusing, and difficult to meet, monitor and enforce.

The Waikato Regional Coastal Plan is the rulebook for activities in the coastal marine area – the area from the Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) mark to 12 nautical miles.

Land based areas within the coastal environment are managed by regional and district plans.

To develop the coastal plan, we have sought feedback from a range of stakeholders, including iwi, agencies, industry and coastal users and residents.

Waikato communities have told us that the coastal plan needs to protect and enhance our unique way of life by providing for the restoration of indigenous habitats and ecosystems, prohibiting discharges and establishing water quality standards, and managing disturbances to protect natural coastal processes.

And at the same time, address climate change and the impacts of coastal erosion and inundation, while providing for tangata whenua perspectives and values, and support for our region’s aquaculture industry.

This feedback, along with iwi management plans and statutory requirements, have informed the development of the Proposed Waikato Regional Coastal Plan which was notified on 18 August 2023.

The following reports provide an analysis of the feedback we’ve received from communities.

• Report on engagement feedback October 2021 [PDF, 377 KB]
• Report on engagement feedback June-August 2022 [PDF, 838 KB]
• Report on engagement feedback June 2023 [PDF, 1.2 MB]

The following documents provide information on the coastal plan review.

• Summary of the coastal plan review [PDF, 162 KB]
• Discussion document on key topics in the coastal plan January 2020 [PDF, 7.7 MB]
• Full report of proposed policy direction options March 2021 [PDF, 646 KB]
• Discussion document on our policy direction November 2021 [PDF, 2.8 MB]
• Further marine biodiversity protection options May 2022 [PDF, 253 KB]
• Information sheet on protecting marine biodiversity November 2022 [PDF, 634 KB]