Changes in Bay of Plenty Coastal Plan

Changes have been made to the Proposed Bay of Plenty Regional Coastal Environment Plan in response to public submissions.

Regional Direction and Delivery Committee Chair Paula Thompson said that feedback from the 194 submissions that Regional Council received on the plan has been valuable.

“It’s shaped changes to rules and policies about protecting natural areas, managing mangroves, recognizing cultural values, and providing for economic development and recreation,” Thompson said.

The changes were approved by the Committee on 20 August 2015 and have been publicly notified yesterday.

“There’s now an opportunity for submitters to appeal to the Environment Court on our plan decisions, so it may be another 12 months before the new coastal plan can be finalized and replace the existing 2003 plan,” Thompson said.

Regional Council is required by the Resource Management Act to prepare a regional coastal plan that sets rules, policies and objectives for the coastal marine area (from mean high water springs to 12 nautical miles out to sea).

The plan controls activities such as construction of marinas and seawalls, dredging, mangrove removal and discharges to the coastal marine area.

It informs city and district plans and guides Regional Council’s work and resource consent decisions, relating to the protection and use of the coastal marine area and the wider coastal environment including sand dunes, rocky coast, coastal cliffs and wetlands.