Changes to the Plan

Changes to the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan

From time to time, issues arise in managing Marlborough's resources that mean it is necessary to review resource management plan provisions so that sustainable outcomes can be achieved. Managing the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan is very much a process of rolling review and it is expected that plan review work, involving one or more topical issues, will be occurring almost continually.

Plan Changes (PC) and Variations (V)

Council may make changes to the Plan through a process of notifying a change, calling and hearing submissions, making decisions on those submissions and dealing with any appeals that may arise. At the end of the process the changes are made operative and they become part of the Plan. Click below to see the operative or proposed changes.

There are two ways in which Council's Resource Management Plans can be amended, by a change or by a variation.  A change is any change made to an operative plan, while a change made to a proposed plan is a variation. While the majority of the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan is operative but there are a few parts which are not operative as they are still under appeal. There are currently changes proposed to both the operative part of the plan (plan changes) and the proposed part of the plan (variations).

Both plan changes and variations must follow the process set out for each in the First Schedule of the Resource Management Act 1991. Under the Resource Management Act 1991 as soon as a plan change or variation is notified Council is required to have regard to the proposed change or variation. Some of the provisions of the plan change or variation may affect the type of information or consent that is required for a proposal or activity.

The following operative changes have been made to the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan and have been incorporated into the PLAN. The individual details of each operative changes is contained in the table below.  Links to the reports are provided in the status column.

No.	Operative Changes	Status	Description of the change
V3	Shipping Activity in the Marlborough Sounds	Notified 14/11/02 Submissions 23/1/03 Summary 20/3/03 Further Submissions 23/4/03 Hearing 2-3/8/04 Decision 16/12/04 EC Decision Operative 21/08/08	Variation 3 amends the existing provisions and introduces new provisions to control large ships in the Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel. The Variation requires large ships wishing to travel faster than 15 knots, in lower Queen Charlotte Sounds and Tory Channel, to apply for resource consent. Ships wishing to travel up to 18 knots will be able to, provided they meet the environmental standard. Ships wishing to travel over 18 knots are required to meet the environmental standard and will be assessed for environmental effects.
PC7	On-site discharges of Domestic Wastewater	Notified 21/4/05 Submissions 20/5/05 Summary 9/6/05 Further Submissions 8/7/05 Hearing 19-20/9/05 Decisions Decisions 8/12/05 Operative 10/03/06	The Plan change amends the existing provisions in the plan relating to on-site wastewater management systems ("on-site systems). A range of additional objectives and policies, and several changes to the rules, were developed to protect the Marlborough Sounds environment.
PC9	Update and Correct Zonings and Heritage Information	Notified 21/4/05 Submissions 20/5/05 Summary 9/6/05 Further Submissions 8/7/05 Hearing 19-20/9/05 Decisions 8/12/05 Operative 10/03/06	Plan change 9 amends the zoning of approximately 55 properties. The changes correct land that has been incorrectly zoned (due to either map errors or changes in land use subsequent to the Plan being notified), zone former road land that has been closed and currently has no zoning, and includes new heritage items.
PC12	Permitted Activity Hazard Rules	Notified 21/4/05 Submissions 20/5/05 Summary 9/6/05 Further Submissions 8/7/05 Hearing 19-20/9/05 Decisions 8/12/05 Operative 10/03/06	Plan change 12 removes the inconsistencies in the zone rules and clarifies and simplifies the application of the hazard provisions.
PC14	Non-State Schools	Notified 1/2/07(27kb) Schedule of Changes (707kb) Section 32 Report (768kb) Public Notice Submission -Summary (50kb) Hearing 13 July 2007  Decision 20/9/07 Operative 03/01/08	To provide for St Josephs's School in the Plan where it is not currently provided for as a permitted activity, subject to standards contained in the schedule.  See LINK.
C/O	Port Noise	Operative 21/08/08	These changes arise from a consent order resolving outstanding appeals on the Plan regarding port noise.

The following changes have been proposed for the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan and have not yet been made operative. The individual details of each proposed change is contained in the table below.

Link to Ministry of Environment website on "how to make a good submission". 

No.	Proposed Changes	Status	Description of the change
V2	Coastal Occupancy Charges	Notified 4/5/00 Submissions 2/6/00 Summary 31/8/00 Further Submissions 28/9/00 Hearing 6/11/00 Decision 18/1/01 Withdrawn 31/5/07 Overturned Currently Under Appeal	The RMA requires Councils to place a statement in their Regional Coastal Plans either setting out a coastal occupancy charges regime or to say they will not do so. Variation 3 inserts a new section into the Plan which in essences states that the Council considers the charges are justified, however there are a number of issues which need to be dealt with before a charging regime is introduced.
PC8	Heritage Trees	Heritage Trees S32 Report (56kb) Plan Change 8 Maps - Heritage Trees  (797kb) Heritage Trees - S32 - Appendices (61 kb) Heritage Trees - Submission Form (32kb)	This plan change proposes that 29 additional heritage trees be protected within the Heritage Register (contained in Appendix A of the Plan), and that one tree be removed from the Register. The Planning Maps are proposed to be amended to show these new trees and, where the location of existing trees has been mapped on the Register inaccurately, the maps will be amended to show correct tree locations.
PC13	Special Subdivision Rules	Notified 21/4/05 Submissions 20/5/05 Summary 9/6/05 Further Submissions 8/7/05 Hearing 19-20/9/05 Decision 8/12/05 Currently Under Appeal	The Plan has a range of subdivision rules applying to each of the different zones. There are also special subdivision rules, which essentially allow non-compliance with discretionary activity allotment sizes to be assessed as discretionary activities, rather than non-complying. A question of interpretation over the status of special subdivision provisions in Rural Zones has resulted in a need for the provisions to be clarified through a plan change. The proposed change is to return the Plan to a state for special subdivisions in the Rural One Zone that existed immediately prior to the Plan becoming operative.
PC15	Oyster Bay, Port Underwood	Notified 30/11/06 Schedule of Changes to the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan Report Prepared by Marlborough District Council Connell Wagner Report Please note that the appendices are not available electronically. Public_Notice 15/2/07(226kb) Further submissions close 23/3/07 Submission Summary-Oyster_Bay-Feb_2007 (1mb) Hearing 24-25 July 2007 Decision 12/10/07 Public Notice 25/10/07 Appealed 23/11/07 Environment Court Decision 22/9/09	This was a private plan change application to rezone approximately 26 hectares of land legally described as Lot 6 DP 11879 and a portion of Pt Sec Blk XII Arapawa SD in Oyster Bay, Port Underwood from Rural One to Sounds Residential.  The Council declined the request.  This decision was confirmed by the Environment Court on appeal.
PC16	Allocation of Authorisations (Marine Farming)	Notified 12/3/09 Schedule of Changes NZKS Sec 165I Report Public Notice - Summary of Submissions PC16 and PC53 23/7/09 Submissions Received Summary of Submissions	Allocation of Authorisations - In 2005 legislation was introduced which substantively changed the way in which aquaculture is managed in New Zealand. All new marine farms are now required to be located in specifically created aquaculture management areas (AMA) or zones, with the right to apply for resource consent to undertake marine farming (authorisation) within the AMA allocated by various means set out in the Resource Management Act 1991. Plan Change 16 introduces the new chapter structure which will contain the revised aquaculture provisions in the future. The plan change also introduce new policy and objectives regarding how authorisations, or the right to apply for resource consent for marine farming within a newly created AMA, will be allocated. The plan change specifically introduces new rules which deal with the allocation of authorisations when the AMA has arisen from a private plan change. These rules will not have effect until the plan change is made operative. Plan Change 16 is a private plan change lodged by New Zealand King Salmon Limited. The plan change is the first of a number of plan changes proposed to amend the aquaculture provisions in the Plans, in accordance with the new legislation. For the avoidance of doubt this plan change do not create new areas for aquaculture, nor does it change the criteria in the Plan by which existing marine farms are managed. Plan Change 16 (Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan) consists of the following: Volume One Update to the 9.1 Introduction A new section( 9.1.2) which discusses aquaculture management under the new legislation A new section (9.4A), objectives, policies and methods of implementation for the allocation of authorisations in AMA's Volume Two A new zone chapter (35A) for aquaculture management areas which introduces new rules regarding the allocation of authorisations in operative AMA's which arise from a private plan change. These rules will not have effect until Plan Change 16 becomes operative.
PC17	Heritage Buildings, Places and Sites	Plan Change 17 Maps (219kb) Heritage Buildings, Places and Sites S32 Report (80kb) Heritage Buildings, Places and Sites - Appendices (47kb) Heritage Buildings, Places and Sites - Submission Form (32kb)	The proposed plan change seeks to further protect the Oparapara (Samson Bay) Argillite Quarries, which is currently recognised by the NZHPT as a Class A historic place. Two additional quarry sites within the Samson Bay area are proposed to be protected within the Plan, along with amendments to fix planning map errors associated with the existing Argillite Quarries heritage listing within the Plan. The proposed plan change also seeks to list the Tory Channel Leading Lights, and the former oil store shed associated with the lights, on the Register of Significant Heritage Resources within the Plan. The Tory Channel Leading Lights serve as both an important navigation tool within the Tory Channel, and as an historic reminder of local marine history. It is proposed that they are protected as a Class A heritage resource.
PC23	Frost Fans	Frost Fans - S32 Report and Schedule of Changes (552kb) Frost Fans - Submission Form (32kb)	The Marlborough District Council is proposing to change the Plan standards and requirements relating to frost fans. The proposed plan change involves the change in status of frost fans from a permitted activity to a controlled activity and includes the introduction of amended noise standards. The new requirements are proposed as a means for Council to proactively manage the adverse noise effects resulting from new frost fans. In order to mange reverse sensitivity effects associated with frost fans, a new rule is also proposed to establish a noise standard applicable to new habitable buildings located in close proximity to existing frost fans. While, to date, the issues associated with frost fans have been limited with regard to the Wairau/Awatere Resource Management Plan, given there is the potential for similar noise issues to arise within the Marlborough Sounds area, it is proposed that the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan also be amended to ensure consistent environmental management within the District.