Managing Significant Indigenous Vegetation Plan Change (PC7)

The further submission period has closed. A planner's report is being prepared and a hearing date will be set in due course.

Update: 30 January 2025

The Council has applied to the Minister for the Environment for an extension of time to notify a decision on Plan Change 7.

Plan Change 7 seeks to better protect and maintain indigenous vegetation while still providing for its clearance, where it is small scale and low impact, to provide for the continuation of farming activities. It will also amend the policies and rules around the type and size of native trees and plants (indigenous vegetation) that can be cleared generally across the district, and within areas of existing pasture (otherwise known as improved pasture) on coastal farmland.

The rule amendments proposed in Plan Change 7 relate to areas of significant indigenous vegetation and areas of significant habitats of indigenous fauna, meaning they have immediate legal effect on notification in accordance with Section 86B(3) of the Resource Management Act 1991.

What we’re proposing

In summary, the proposed changes seek to:

• Amend the definition of improved pasture to make it easier for landowners and plan users to determine whether an area of pasture is improved or not, and, therefore, what rules apply to the clearance of indigenous vegetation;
• Introduce new rules for the coastal environment (defined in the District Plan) that require any clearance of indigenous vegetation within areas of improved pasture to comply with limits in the District Plan for the type, scale and size of trees and plants that can be cleared. Where clearance of indigenous vegetation is proposed to exceed those limits, an application for resource consent would be required;
• Introduce a maximum limit for clearance of indigenous coastal vegetation of 0.1 ha in a five year period t as a permitted activity within an area of improved pasture. Note: where those species are located at Kaitōrete Spit, no allowance for clearance within areas of improved pasture as a permitted activity is proposed;
• Amend the geographic area that the limit applies to for indigenous coastal vegetation to the entire coastal environment as defined in the District Plan (currently restricted to Kaitōrete Spit);
• Introduce a definition of “contiguous” for kanuka and indigenous coastal vegetation so that individuals wishing to clear those species understand what can be cleared without resource consent, having regard to whether a plant is connected (contiguous) to a larger area of plants that are likely to be of ecological significance or not;
• Increase the geographic area that the limit applies to for clearance of indigenous coastal vegetation, which is proposed to apply to the entire coastal environment where those species are likely to be present. The current rules protecting indigenous coastal vegetation only applies to Kaitōrete Spit;
• Replace all “N/A” values specified on Appendix 9.1.6.6 with “0” to ensure that those species are not interpreted in such a way that they can be cleared as a permitted activity without compliance with any limits;
• Introduce an additional salt-marsh species into Table 1 (d) of Appendix 9.1.6.6 to ensure that indigenous wetland vegetation is better protected and maintained;
• Clarify that anyone wanting to clear indigenous vegetation exceeding the limits in the District Plan should assess whether the area is of ecological significance if it has not already been identified in the plan a Site of Ecological Significance; and
• Clarify how adverse effects in coastal and non-coastal environments should be managed, including the use of biodiversity offsets.