The Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) sets out what people can do on their land and how it may be developed. It also guides how individuals, businesses and the wider community may use public resources such as fresh water and coastal space.
As a Unitary Authority the Marlborough District Council has the powers, functions and responsibilities of both a regional and district council. Under the Resource Management Act 1991 it therefore has an obligation to prepare a Regional Policy Statement, a Coastal Plan, a District Plan and such other Regional Plans as are necessary.
With its dual responsibilities as both a district and regional authority the Council has taken the opportunity to integrate the management of the resources of the Marlborough region by preparing this combined Regional, District and Coastal Plan, known as the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan.
The proposed Marlborough Environment Plan became operative in part on 9 July 2025, with the Regional Coastal Plan provisions becoming operative on 22 December 2025. Further regional council plan provisions and non-regional coastal plan provisions were made operative on 14 April 2026.
The previous planning documents are still available for viewing:
Go to the previous planning documents’ section
From 1 September 2026, the proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (PMEP) will be available through ePlan, our online plan platform. To support the transition, both the existing PDF documents and ePlan will remain available for three months, allowing users time to become familiar with the new system. From 1 December 2026, the PDF versions will be removed from the website, and ePlan will become the primary source for accessing the PMEP. A user guide is available to help users navigate the ePlan.
