Otago Regional Council - Plan Change 2 to the Otago Water Plan
Jul 2011What is Proposed?
According to the ORC, Plan Change 2 will better maintain and enhance Otago's regionally significant wetlands. There are three main components to the plan change:
- Schedule 10 (Additional Wetlands) of the Plan will be entirely deleted. Some of the wetlands contained in this schedule will be moved into Schedule 9 (Significant Wetlands), others will be removed from the Plan.
- The wetlands included in Schedule 9 (Significant Wetlands) of the Plan will be remapped accurately. The list of the values these wetlands contain will be removed from the Regional Plan and placed into a "separate, non-regulatory wetland inventory". This means the values could then be changed and updated without requiring a full plan change and public consultation process.
- The policies and rules relating to significant wetlands will be amended to extend the protection afforded to these wetlands.
The relevant part of Schedule 9 is attached below in pdf file format. If you have a wetland on your property we recommend that you look through this schedule to see if has been included.
Who will be affected?
Plan Change 2 will potentially impact upon anyone with a wetland upon their land. Importantly, if you have a wetland on your property Plan Change 2 may affect what you are allowed to do, on or to, that wetland. Resource consent must be obtained if an activity, like grazing stock, drainage or water diversion, may adversely affect a regionally significant wetland on your property.
What happens next?
Plan Change 2 was notified for public submissions on 2 July 2011. After the timeframe for lodging submissions and further submissions closes on 29 July the ORC will convene a hearing on the Plan Change. If you have lodged a submission you can elect to appear at the hearing and submit your view on the basis of your submission.
Following the hearing the ORC will make a decision on the Plan Change. This decision is able to be appealed to the Environment Court. Once the appeal period has expired without any appeals being lodged, or once any appeals have been settled or finalised, the Plan Change will become fully operative.
Submitting on Plan Change 2
Plan Change 2 is open for public comment until Friday July 29 2011. Our Resource Management Team is available to review Plan Change 2 and prepare submissions. Please let us know if you would like our assistance.
If you wish to find out more about Plan Change 2 or its implications for a wetland on your property, or you are interested in submitting on Plan Change 2 and would like help, please contact Jackie St John or Tim Stevens.
Alternatively, if in the future you need to apply for resource consent to undertake an activity that may impact upon a significant wetland on your property, our Resource Management team are available to assist with this process.
