Unitary Plan moves forward

As of 15 November, the parts of the Unitary Plan which are not subject to Environment Court and High Court appeals have officially started functioning.

These parts of the plan have now replaced the old district and regional plans of Auckland’s former councils.

Auckland Council Unitary Plan manager Celia Davison said most of the appeals relate only to specific sites or provisions in the plan.

Large parts of the Regional Policy Statement, regional plan and some parts of the district plan are now operative, she said.

“For those parts of the plan still subject to appeal, the old rules will remain in place with the council being required to assess all resource consent applications against the relevant parts of both the old and new plans.

“Decisions will need to be made on a case-by-case basis as to how much weight can be given to the Unitary Plan versus the legacy district and regional plans.”

While most of the appeals may not have a major impact, a joint appeal lodged by Auckland 2040 and the Character Coalition is broad in scope and has the potential to impact on residential development across the Super City.

Davison said that once all the appeals are resolved, the Unitary Plan will be made fully operative.

“The process and timeframe for resolving the appeals is a matter for the courts, but the council will be working with all parties to ensure that they are resolved as quickly as possible.”

What is now known as the “Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in Part” – can be seen on the council’s website here.