Agenda of Planning and Regulatory Committee

N-logotype-black-wide Planning and Regulatory Committee

29 May 2018

Page No.

1. Apologies

Nil

2. Confirmation of Order of Business

3. Interests

3.1 Updates to the Interests Register

3.2 Identify any conflicts of interest in the agenda

4. Public Forum

5. Confirmation of Minutes

5.1 5 April 2018 8 - 13

Document number M3394

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Planning and Regulatory Committee, held on 5 April 2018, as a true and correct record.

6. Chairperson's report

7. Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - 29 May 2018 14 - 17

Document number R9293

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - 29 May 2018 (R9293) and its attachment (A1736802).

8. Environmental Management Report for 1 January - 31 March 2018 18 - 40

Document number R9137

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the Environmental Management Report for 1 January - 31 March 2018 (R9137) and its attachments (A1929343 and A1946662).

9. Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18 41 - 74

Document number R9161

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18 (R9161) and its attachments (A1957147 and A1964413).

Recommendation to Council

That the Council

Adopts the revised Nelson Biodiversity Strategy 2017/18 (A1957147).

10. Section 36 State of the Environment monitoring and research charges 75 - 82

Document number R9236

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the report Section 36 State of the Environment monitoring and research charges (R9236) and its attachment (A1947433); and

Approves the commencement of the preparation of a Statement of Proposal for annual State of the Environment monitoring and research charges; and

Notes that a Statement of Proposal will be prepared and brought back to the Committee for recommendation to Council.

11. Nelson Plan Update 83 - 130

Document number R8994

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Nelson Plan Update (R8994) and its attachments (A1955071 and A1923677); and

Approves the release of the Draft Nelson Plan in accordance with the Draft Nelson Plan Overview (A1955071) for statutory stakeholder and iwi partner feedback; and

Delegates authority to approve any minor changes to the Draft Nelson Plan; based on feedback from this meeting, to the Group Manager Environmental Management, Her Worship the Mayor R Reese, and Councillor B McGurk; and

Approves amending the indicative timeline for public notification of the Nelson Plan from May 2019 to July 2019.

12. Submission on Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Renewal of Licences) Amendment Bill (No.2) 131 - 135

Document number R9329

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Submission on the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Renewal of Licences) Amendment Bill (No.2) (R9329) and its attachments (A1970982 and A1955285); and

Confirms the content of the submission (A1955285) as submitted to the Central Government Governance and Administration Committee.

Public Excluded Business

13. Exclusion of the Public

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.

The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

Item	General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Particular interests protected (where applicable)
1	Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - Public Excluded - 29 May 2018	Section 48(1)(a) The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7	The withholding of the information is necessary: · Section 7(2)(b)(ii) To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information · Section 7(2)(h) To enable the local authority to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities · Section 7(2)(j) To prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or improper advantage

Item

General subject of each matter to be considered

Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter

Particular interests protected (where applicable)

Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - Public Excluded - 29 May 2018

Section 48(1)(a)

The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7

The withholding of the information is necessary:

· Section 7(2)(b)(ii)

To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information

· Section 7(2)(h)

To enable the local authority to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities

· Section 7(2)(j)

To prevent the disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or improper advantage

14. Re-admittance of the public

Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Re-admits the public to the meeting.

Note:

· Youth Councillors Reuben Panting and Nico Frizzell will be in attendance at this meeting. (delete as appropriate)

Planning and Regulatory Committee Minutes - 5 April 2018

Minutes of a meeting of the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Held in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson

On Thursday 5 April 2018, commencing at 9.01am

Present: Councillor B McGurk (Presiding Co-Chairperson), Her Worship the Mayor R Reese (Co-Chairperson), Councillors L Acland, I Barker, B Dahlberg, K Fulton, S Walker and Ms G Paine

In Attendance: Chief Executive (P Dougherty, Group Manager Environmental Management (C Barton), Group Manager Community Services (C Ward), Governance Adviser (E Stephenson) and Youth Councillors E Grant and R Fell

Apologies : Her Worship the Mayor for lateness

1. Apologies

Resolved PR/2018/018

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives and accepts the apology from Her Worship the Mayor for lateness.

McGurk/Barker Carried

2. Confirmation of Order of Business

There was no change to the order of business.

3. Interests

There were no updates to the Interests Register, and no interests with items on the agenda were declared.

4. Public Forum

There was no public forum.

5. Confirmation of Minutes

5.1 22 February 2018

Document number M3291, agenda pages 7 - 15 refer.

Resolved PR/2018/019

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Planning and Regulatory Committee, held on 22 February 2018, as a true and correct record.

Paine/Walker Carried

6. Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - 5 April 2018

Document number R9169, agenda pages 16 - 18 refer.

Resolved PR/2018/020

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee - 5 April 2018 (R9169) and its attachment (A1736802).

Walker/Dahlberg Carried

7. Chairperson's Report

There was no Chairperson’s Report.

8. National Policy Statement - Urban Development Capacity Quarterly Monitoring Report

Document number R8924, agenda pages 19 - 40 refer.

Strategy and Environment Senior Analyst, Chris Pawson and Team Leader City Development, Lisa Gibellini provided a PowerPoint presentation and answered questions regarding the price of rural and urban land, pressure on urban boundaries, geographical constraints, intensified urban living, clarification of land parcels, the MBIE ratio of 1.5 land cost to final cost, SHAs and the number of building consents, demand on social housing, the flow through effect on rental properties and the impact on holiday rentals.

Attendance: Her Worship the Mayor entered the meeting at 9.44a.m.

Resolved PR/2018/021

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the report National Policy Statement - Urban Development Capacity Quarterly Monitoring Report (R8924) and its attachment A1927466; and

Agrees to the report being circulated to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and placed on Council’s website.

Fulton/Walker Carried

Attachments

1 A1939890 UDC Monitoring Report Summary PowerPoint presentation

9. Draft Water Quality Primary Contact Targets

Document number R8846, agenda pages 41 - 48 refer.

Manager Environment, Matt Heale and Water Quality Scientist Doctor Paul Fisher tabled supplementary information, spoke to the report and they and the Group Manager Environmental Management answered questions regarding engagement with stakeholders, national figures for comparison, whether targets were realistic and achievable, pressure on smaller streams, the effect of stormwater events on figures, adequate future funding

Attendance: Councillor Dahlberg left the meeting at 9.53a.m. and returned at 9.55a.m.

Resolved PR/2018/022

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the report Draft Water Quality Primary Contact Targets (R8846) and its attachments (A1924208 and A1923665); and

Notes the draft water quality primary contact targets of 100% for E-coli in Nelson’s fourth order rivers; and

Authorises officers to consult on water quality targets as part of stakeholder engagement on the Nelson Plan; and

Requests that a report is brought back to the Planning and Regulatory Committee to finalise water quality targets so that the public and Minister for the Environment can be advised by 31 December 2018 in accordance with National Policy Statement Freshwater Management requirements.

Paine/Fulton Carried

Attachments

1 A1946737 - Regional information for setting draft targets for swimmable lakes and rivers

10. Changes to the Nelson Resource Management Plan to Give Effect to the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry

Document number R9128, agenda pages 49 - 65 refer.

Manager Environment, Matt Heale introduced Planning Adviser Jacqui Jones, spoke to the report and answered questions regarding recent events, changes in forestry practices and maintaining standards across the industry.

Resolved PR/2018/023

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the report Changes to the Nelson Resource Management Plan to Give Effect to the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (R9128) and its attachments (A1929734 and A1923819); and

Requests officers to consider whether changes should be made to the Nelson Plan forestry provisions as part of the Nelson Plan review.

Fulton/Barker Carried

Recommendation to Council PR/2018/024

That the Council

Approves that changes be made to the Nelson Resource Management Plan in accordance with A1923819 of Report R9128 in order to implement the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry.

Fulton/Barker Carried

11. Exclusion of the Public

Resolved PR/2018/025

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting.

Barker/Walker Carried

Item	General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Particular interests protected (where applicable)
1	Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee Public Excluded - 5 April 2018	Section 48(1)(a) The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7	The withholding of the information is necessary: · Section 7(2)(a) To protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of a deceased person

Item

General subject of each matter to be considered

Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter

Particular interests protected (where applicable)

Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee Public Excluded - 5 April 2018

Section 48(1)(a)

The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7

The withholding of the information is necessary:

· Section 7(2)(a)

To protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of a deceased person

The meeting went into public excluded session at 10.08a.m. and resumed in public session at 10.12a.m.

Please note that as the only business transacted in public excluded was to receive the status report, this business has been recorded in the public minutes. In accordance with the Local Government Official Information Meetings Act 1987, no reason for withholding this information from the public exists.

12. Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee Public Excluded - 5 April 2018

Document number R9170, agenda pages 3 - 4 refer.

Group Manager Environmental Management, Clare Barton, spoke to the report.

Resolved PR/2018/026

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Status Report - Planning and Regulatory Committee Public Excluded - 5 April 2018 (R9170) and its attachment (A1863070).

Acland/Fulton Carried

13. Re-admittance of the Public

Resolved PR/2018/027

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Re-admits the public to the meeting.

Barker/Acland Carried

There being no further business the meeting ended at 10.12a.m.

Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings:

Chairperson Date

Planning and Regulatory Committee

29 May 2018

REPORT R9137

Environmental Management Report for 1 January - 31 March 2018

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To provide a quarterly update on activity and performance for the Council’s planning, regulatory, science, city development and environment functions.

2. Summary

Activity	Level of service needed	Achievement
Building	Compliance with statutory timeframes. Developing consistent working methodologies	Statutory time limits continue to be met for processing building consents. Target timeframes for inspections are back within the 72 hour target and most are achieved in 48 hours. Nelson City Council is working with Tasman District Council on the Alpha 1 online end to end consent system and other work flows to drive better alignment and consistent customer experience.
Consents and Compliance	Delivery of all statutory regulatory functions. Compliance with statutory timeframes.	84% compliance with resource consent timeframes.
Science and Environment	Delivery of all programmes. Compliance and reporting against relevant policy statements and standards.	A high level of community engagement including through the Wakapuaka Bursting with Life! and Te Wairepo projects.
Planning	Resource management plans are current and meet all legislative requirements.	The focus in this quarter was on compiling a draft Plan and responding to peer review, proofing and consent testing.
City Development	Coordinated growth with infrastructure. A well planned city that meets the community’s current and future needs.	One Special Housing Area (SHA) Tasman Heights was recommended to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development in the last quarter. This is now being considered by Cabinet along with six recommended from the previous quarter. The third and fourth quarterly monitoring reports required by the National Policy Statement – Urban Development Capacity (NPS –UDC) were completed.

3. Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the Environmental Management Report for 1 January - 31 March 2018 (R9137) and its attachments (A1929343 and A1946662).

4. Background

4.1 The report and attachment detail the performance monitoring of the Council’s regulatory and non-regulatory activities, how these activities have changed over time and identifies their strategic direction.

5. Discussion - Building

Achievements

5.1 The Nelson City Council Building Consent Authority (BCA) continues to process building consents and certificates of acceptance within the statutory time limit of 20 working days (see Attachment 1 for a full summary of the statistics).

5.2 The Building (Earthquake-Prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 transition continues to track to the timeframes. The next stage which involves the identification of Priority Buildings is being assessed by officers and will be reported to the Committee in 2018.

Trends

5.3 Building consent applications are around 15% higher than 2015/16 although slightly lower than 2016/17. The general indication is that the increased trend from prior years is continuing.

5.4 An additional 700 to 900 inspections have been undertaken over the same period month on month compared to 2016/17. This year is projected to have the highest number of inspections undertaken since 2013/14. An additional Building Officer (Inspector) resource recruited in December has now obtained a competency level so is assisting the BCA meet its target for inspections.

Strategic direction and focus

5.5 The project to implement the online digital building control service solution across Nelson and Tasman District Councils is progressing towards a go live date of October 2018.

5.6 Other works are being undertaken to provide more collaboration between Nelson and Tasman District Council on a technical level. The aim is to work towards more consistent decision making to provide a similar customer experience across both Councils.

Risks and challenges

5.7 There has been only one breach of the 20 day time limit for issuing Code Compliance Certificates over the last quarter. This was due to an application coming through the online portal. This is not the current process and was missed. The process has been adjusted to ensure this repository is managed to capture any Code Compliance Certificate applications like this in the future.

5.8 Recruitments for a replacement Team Leader for the Inspections team has not been successful to date.

6. Discussion – Consents and Compliance

Achievements

6.1 The morning and evening patrols for the Freedom Camping Bylaw enforcement were on the whole well received by visitors. In total 542 verbal warnings were given for the quarter and 167 infringements issued. From 1 December to 31 March 102 infringements have been paid, 78 have been sent to the Court for non-payment.

6.2 Close to 1000 safety checks were carried out by the deputy harbourmaster in the quarter compared to 370 checks for the same period last year. The harbourmaster assisted other organisations with two successful search and rescue operations as well as training exercises and “No Excuses” days in conjunction with Maritime NZ. A personal floatation device display was well received on Tahunanui Beach and support was provided to water-based competitions, regattas, storm-related assessments, Boulder Bank walk and the Big Splash event enabling those with disabilities to experience water sports.

Trends

6.3 Compliance with statutory timeframes has slipped to 91% compliant this quarter compared to last year’s average compliance of 98%. This is expected to improve as new staff come up to speed.

Strategic direction and focus

6.4 For the first time over the summer season there has been a dedicated deputy harbourmaster thanks to funding received from Maritime NZ. This resulted in a greater presence on the water and further development on existing education campaigns and building relations with clubs and search and rescue organisations. Council will continue to apply to Maritime NZ for funding to support this dedicated service for as long as the funding is available.

Risks

6.5 The Regulatory Services Contract is out for a Request for Proposal. The current contract expires on 30 June 2018.

7. Discussion – Science and Environment

Achievements

7.1 The Wakapuaka Bursting with Life! project was launched on 09 March at Hira Reserve with a good attendance from members of the community. Attendees enjoyed a barbeque, activities, a welcome from the Mayor, a short film made with the community about the values of the river, and an outdoor movie. Throughout the evening, people were able to contribute their thoughts and issues about the river and how to improve its health.

7.2 Following on from the project launch, Landcare Trust in conjunction with Nelson Nature held a practical workshop for landowners on 24 March also at Hira. These two events have generated increased interest in the community for working towards water quality improvement.

7.3 A second population of the critically endangered Back Beach Beetle has been found at Delaware Bay as a result of Nelson Nature surveys and confirmed in an ecological report. Previously, the only known location of this beetle in the world was the sand flat behind Tahunanui Beach. Further surveys will be undertaken when the beetles are active next summer to better understand the beetle’s distribution and management requirements, particularly in relation to climate change.

7.4 The Battle for the Banded Rail project, supported by Nelson Nature and Natureland, has extended its predator control programme along Whakatu Drive to protect the banded rail. The trap line from Monaco to Saxton Creek is being funded by Nelson Nature, voluntarily maintained by Natureland staff and coordinated as part of the wider Nelson-Tasman Battle for the Banded Rail project. There is a small number of banded rail in the estuary margins along Whakatu Drive. The habitat has been enhanced over many years of Council plantings, but the birds will benefit from reduced predation from the trapping.

7.5 The control of dense infestations of Spanish heath and gorse in the Dun Mountain mineral belt has been completed for the season by Nelson Nature and Parks and Reserves. These species are the greatest weed threat to the mineral belt ecosystem after wilding conifers.

7.6 The first year of a willow removal programme jointly undertaken between the Parks Team and Project Maitai has been completed with the removal of willow saplings along the Maitai/Mahitahi River, from the Pipeline Bridge to Sharlands Creek. Larger willows that are considered to be problematic have been GPS’d and will be evaluated for removal next year.

7.7 The York Stream/Te Wairepo Project has continued to encourage the participation of residents in caring for the York Stream, through the use of behavioural based approaches. A number of events have been held including a stall at Race Unity Day, a walking symposium, a mural unveiling at Nelson Intermediate School, and the Kaitiaki art project undertaken at schools during term one.

7.8 A summary of air quality monitoring results for the 2017 calendar year and recent burner behaviour change activities is attached (Attachment 2). There have been no exceedances in any of Nelson’s airsheds in this reporting period. A new monitor has been installed at the Council’s St Vincent Street (Airshed A) site which provides continuous, telemetered data for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5.

7.9 The Warmer Healthier Homes Nelson Tasman Marlborough project has achieved the milestone of insulating 1,000 homes for those in need. The first house was insulated in February 2014.

7.10 The 2018/19 Heritage Project Fund is currently being run. Applications close on 11 May 2018. This is a contestable fund that provides grants to the owners of heritage items, and to others who seek to conserve buildings, objects and sites of heritage value in the City.

7.11 Cyanobacteria monitoring results have remained low over the summer season with no red alerts and a short period of amber levels in December. The last 5 years’ worth of cyanobacteria monitoring data is being modelled and analysed by Cawthron Institute to provide guidance on conditions likely to provide the highest risk for cyanobacteria blooms.

7.12 A fish map web application has been developed to allow widespread access to existing fish survey data. This will allow anyone undertaking work in or around rivers to access the latest fish presence/absence information.

7.13 The recent appointment of a waste minimisation officer which includes the climate change mitigation portfolio has enabled the development of a work programme to support better resource use and waste avoidance, alongside emission reduction.

Strategic direction and focus

7.14 The focus for the April to June quarter will be on finalising project delivery, and project planning for the 18-19 year. There will be a particular emphasis on planning for the freshwater, coastal/marine, state of the environment monitoring, and climate change work programmes.

7.15 The joint Regional Pest Management Committee heard submissions on the proposed joint Regional Pest Management Plan on 16 April and deliberations are scheduled for 25 June.

7.16 Nelmac are sponsoring the preparation of an ecological restoration plan for Haulashore Island, in coordination with Nelson Nature and Parks and Reserves. The plan will focus on the long term restoration of the site as a key coastal site for the protection of rare coastal species and habitats and is being developed in consultation with iwi and key community stakeholders.

7.17 A survey for Spanish heath and gorse throughout a 700 ha of the mineral belt is currently underway by Nelson Nature and the results will be used to identify new infestations requiring control and management priorities.

8. Discussion - Planning

Achievements

8.1 The focus in this quarter has been on the compilation of a draft of the Nelson Plan, web map and associated s32 documentation. The draft Nelson Plan has now been peer reviewed, proofed, and consent tested. The results of this work are incorporated into a separate report on this agenda and will be discussed in that paper.

8.2 Reports were also prepared relating to draft water quality primary contact (swimmability) targets and changes required to the Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP) to implement the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry. Officers are now undertaking the implementation work resulting from these reports.

8.3 Additional technical work and community stakeholder engagement has been undertaken and will continue to aid the development of the Draft Nelson Plan as outlined below.

Coastal

8.4 The group working on a proposal for managed boat launching access at Maori Pa Road, has received positive feedback on its tentative proposal from boat users and local residents. The group met with members of the Wakapuaka 1B Trust to canvass their views on the proposal, and is now awaiting a formal response from the Trust. In due course, the proposal will be presented to Council for consideration.

Natural hazards

8.5 In response to feedback with affected landowners of potential flood hazards, consultants are further refining the flood hazard maps.

8.6 Work is underway assessing areas of potential high, medium and low Slope Instability hazard risk.

8.7 The Land Information Memorandum (LIM) notice wording for properties within the identified liquefaction risk area has been finalised. Affected property owners will be informed of the new LIM notice wording.

8.8 Technical work on coastal erosion hazards has progressed to the point that a consultant report on potentially susceptible areas is in the process of being peer reviewed. The report will base its findings on Government guidance with respect to coastal hazards and accounting for sea level rise, which was released late in 2017. This report will be complemented by technical work on coastal inundation, which will be progressed throughout 2018.

Freshwater

8.9 The draft code of practice for Council works in the beds of rivers and streams has been drafted for review by the Infrastructure team. The code of practice is intended to provide best practice methods for Council officers and contractors while aligning and ensuring compliance with the expectations of the National Policy Statement – Freshwater Management, and the draft Plan provisions.

8.10 Three technical freshwater reports have been completed; the Sub-catchment Summary Report, Values and Attributes report, and an Objectives and Limits report. These reports will be discussed as part of the Draft Nelson Plan workshops.

Forestry

8.11 The required changes to the NRMP to align with The National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF) have been developed. These changes to the NRMP will be made on the Council’s website and Plan holders will be informed.

8.12 The Nelson Plan Review process will further assess the NES-PF.

Heritage

8.13 A peer review of the Fountain Place heritage precinct has been undertaken that recommends keeping the precinct, but reducing its extent to the original subdivision. Feedback was sought from residents and will be considered in the development of the Draft Nelson Plan.

Biodiversity

8.14 Engagement with owners of significant natural areas (SNAs) has continued and, as a result, a number of ecological surveys have been undertaken with the agreement of owners. These surveys will be used to help refine the boundaries of SNAs in the draft Plan.

Growth, Development and Urban Form

8.15 Officers have been testing growth scenarios by ‘ground-truthing’ of sites identified as having ‘redevelopment potential’. Two growth scenarios (comprising a mix of intensification and urban extension) have been prepared which will be tested through feasibility testing and cost benefit analysis through April and May 2018.

Strategic direction and focus

8.16 The focus at this point is on updating the Plan to ensure peer review feedback is addressed. This work will ensure that the Plan is properly integrated at all levels (e.g. between topics, and between layers).

8.17 The next phase of work will be releasing the Plan for statutory stakeholder and iwi partner input for a three month period ahead of the public release of the Draft Nelson Plan. Cost benefit analysis and legal peer review will also happen through this next phase. There will be further discussions with landowners who will require site specific zoning such as the Port, Airport, Hospital, and quarries.

Risks

8.18 Additional time has been needed to respond to the peer review feedback. This has caused a slight delay in the progress of the Plan although the Plan is still on track to be notified by mid-2019. The timing will be reviewed as the Plan progresses.

9. Discussion –City Development

Achievements

9.1 One Special Housing Area (SHA), Tasman Heights was recommended to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development in the last quarter. This is now being considered by Cabinet along with those recommended from the previous quarter: Summerset Retirement Village (Saxton and 1A Hill Street SHA’s), Bayview (Atawhai Drive), 381 Nayland Road, 40 Tasman Street and 23 Wastney Terrace.

9.2 A further seven SHA’s (Brookside Village, Quail Rise, 3B & 3C Hill Street North, 2 City Heights, 31 Tipahi Street and 397 Suffolk Road) are working with officers to meet Council’s deed and resolution requirements in order that they can be recommended to the Minister. Three of those SHAs (City Heights, Tipahi Street and Suffolk Road) were approved by Council in the last quarter.

9.3 City Development officers continue to be involved in the Long Term Plan (LTP) and lead the Development and Financial Contribution Policy review. Stakeholder and Council workshops were held in the first quarter on the review of the Development and Financial Contributions Policy 2015. A draft policy is currently out for public feedback concurrently with the LTP.

9.4 The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has been working with officers to finalise the next group of monitoring indicators on the Urban Development Capacity Dashboard. A Quarterly report required under the National Policy Statement – Urban Development Capacity (NPS UDC) was reported to the Planning and Regulatory Committee on 5 April for the previous two quarters (September and December) and is now available on Council’s website.

9.5 Work on the draft aligned Land Development Manual (LDM) continues with Tasman District Council. Internal and stakeholder feedback has led to alterations to the Transport Chapter to reformat it for readability and make it more user friendly. The draft LDM will go to a Steering Group Meeting on 25 May, and then these will go to Council. The LDM will be an externally referenced document in the Nelson Resource Management Plan and Tasman Resource Management Plan.

9.6 Officers have been working across Council on a number of teams involved with development, property, city centre, and precinct and Stoke centre projects.

Strategic Direction and Focus

9.7 The City Development Team was established in November 2017 and recruitment was completed with officers Senior Analyst Environmental Management Chris Pawson and Senior City Development Planner Alastair Upton starting in early 2018. Development of a program plan for the three Full Time Equivalent (FTE) team has been completed for 2018. A third position for an Urban Activation Specialist/Strategist has been included in the LTP.

9.8 Expressions of Interest for SHAs are accepted on a quarterly basis, the next round closes on 30 May 2018 and will be reported to Council on 21 June 2018. There continues to be strong interest from developers in pursuing SHAs.

9.9 The NPS UDC strongly encourages Council to undertake a Future Development Strategy. Officers will bring a scoping report setting out the potential direction, focus and timelines for a Future Development Strategy to the 1 May Joint Council workshop.

9.10 The City Development Team continues to be involved in project analysis to ensure that Council’s investment in infrastructure required to support growth areas is programmed to meet capacity requirements of the NPS-UDC. Both TDC and NCC officers have assessed the LTP submissions to determine if there are any implications of project changes on the ability to meet the capacity requirements of the NPS across the Nelson Urban Area.

9.11 Over the next quarter the Team will be completing feasibility analysis required by the NPS UDC for all residential greenfield development areas, including undertaking consultation with developers on these. All of the work under the NPS UDC is required to ensure that Council has sufficient information to show that those matters Council has control over in the residential housing activity (i.e. zoning and infrastructure provision), are not preventing the supply of housing.

Risks

9.12 The review of the Development Contributions Policy 2015 has been picked up by the City Development Team at the beginning of the last quarter. This work has had a short term impact on the delivery of other work.

Legal proceedings update

9.13 The Brook Valley Community Group (BVCG) has challenged:

a) the aerial poison operation of Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust;

b) whether the Resource Management (Exemption) Regulations 2017 are unlawful;

c) whether the exemptions under the Regulations apply to s13 RMA (deposit on riverbed) activities as well as s15 RMA (discharge) activities; and

d) whether Council should have required resource consent under Rule FW9.3 of the NRMP (prohibited deposit of toxic material in riverbed).

9.14 The High Court upheld Council (and other respondents') position and awarded costs to Council of $21,460.01. BVCG appealed the substantive and costs decision to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal hearing date is set down for 30 May 2018.

Mandy Bishop

Manager Consents and Compliance

Attachments

Attachment 1: A1929343 Building and Consents and Compliance statistics ⇩

Attachment 2: A1946662 Air Quality Monitoring Summary 2017 and Recent Activities ⇩

Important considerations for decision making

1. Fit with Purpose of Local Government

Section 10 of LGA 2002 requires local government to perform regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses. This quarterly report identifies the performance levels of regulatory and non-regulatory functions.

2. Consistency with Community Outcomes and Council Policy

The Council’s Long Term Plan includes performance measures for various activities and this report enables the Council to monitor progress towards achieving these measures.

The Environment work programme addresses a number of community outcomes by protecting our environment and our heritage, sustainably managing our urban and rural environments, co-ordinating our growth and infrastructure planning, keeping our community safe through statutory compliance and making people aware of hazard risk, engaging with iwi and our community and establishing key partnerships, and taking a business friendly approach while promoting environmental management best practice.

3. Risk

The level of building and resource consent application numbers continues to put pressure on meeting statutory timeframes. Vacancies have the potential to impact work programmes.

4. Financial impact

No additional resources have been requested.

5. Degree of significance and level of engagement

This matter is of low significance.

6. Inclusion of Māori in the decision making process

No consultation with Māori has been undertaken.

7. Delegations

The Planning and Regulatory Committee has the responsibility for performance monitoring of Council’s Regulatory activities as set out in section 6.3 of the Delegations Register.

Item 9: Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18

Planning and Regulatory Committee

29 May 2018

REPORT R9161

Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To receive the revised Nelson Biodiversity Strategy 2017/18 (the Strategy) and to adopt the Strategy (Attachment 1).

2. Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18 (R9161) and its attachments (A1957147 and A1964413).

Recommendation to Council

That the Council

Adopts the revised Nelson Biodiversity Strategy 2017/18 (A1957147).

3. Discussion

3.1 The Nelson Biodiversity Forum (the Forum) is a 31 member organisation working together to identify and align actions for biodiversity in the Nelson area.

3.2 Council is a member of the Forum and is represented on the Forum by three Councillors and several Council officers.

3.3 The Forum has a strategy, the Nelson Biodiversity Strategy, which aims to align existing actions under a common vision and introduce new actions to address priority issues related to biodiversity management in Nelson.

3.4 The Forum has completed the third review of the Nelson Biodiversity Strategy and has developed a revised Strategy for the next three years. Workshops to shape the review have been held since January 2017 comprising Forum members, some Councillors and officers.

3.5 The Planning and Regulatory Committee approved the draft Strategy in principle on 23 November 2017.

3.6 The Forum agreed on a final draft version of the Strategy at its meeting on Monday 5 March 2018.

3.7 The Strategy sets out the goals, objectives and outcomes agreed by the Forum and sets out actions to achieve intermediate objectives.

3.8 The Forum has identified a “lead” for each action. Being a “lead” commits the agency representative on the Forum to act as a focal point for initiating action or coordinating activity and updating the Forum on progress. However, it does not mean that an agency will be the primary provider of resources to complete an action.

3.9 The Strategy identifies Council as a lead for a number of actions. Actions within the Strategy are the responsibility of all 31 Partners to the Strategy and each Partner will determine the actual work to be done by its organisation in a given year as part of its overall planning and budgetary cycle.

3.10 The majority of actions where the Council is identified as a lead are already part of Council’s existing funded targeted biodiversity programmes, e.g. Nelson Nature and Project Maitai, and are consistent with Council’s responsibilities as a unitary authority (see Attachment 2 –Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision - Nelson City Council Lead Actions).

3.11 There are two coastal/marine monitoring actions (see Attachment 2) that are not currently resourced through existing Council programmes. These are compatible with the additional resourcing for coastal/marine biodiversity in the proposed Long Term Plan and with Council’s responsibilities as a unitary authority. It should be noted however, that adoption of the Strategy does not commit the Council to any specific course of action.

3.12 The revised Strategy sets a clear integrated framework of actions for biodiversity across both Tasman and Nelson Regions. The review updates actions and places Nelson in a good position to meet Government direction on biodiversity.

4. Options

4.1 There are three options as follows:

Option 1: Adopt Strategy (preferred option)
Advantages	· Council demonstrates its commitment to the Nelson Biodiversity Forum and Nelson Biodiversity Strategy. · A more effective and efficient achievement of biodiversity outcomes for Nelson through a collaborative strategic approach.
Risks and Disadvantages	· Additional resourcing may be required to deliver two coastal/marine actions if coastal biodiversity capacity is not secured as per the proposed Long Term Plan. However, adoption of the Strategy does not commit the Council to any specific course of action in a given year and each Partner will determine the actual work to be done by its organisation in a given year as part of its overall planning and budgetary cycle.
Option 2: Do not adopt Strategy
Advantages	· There are no advantages.
Risks and Disadvantages	· Council is not seen to as a collaborative partner of the Nelson Biodiversity Forum. · Nelson Biodiversity Forum continues to develop the Strategy without Council’s involvement or Council would operate with an out of date Strategy.
Option 3: Recommend changes to Strategy
Advantages	· An opportunity to make changes to the Strategy.
Risks and Disadvantages	· Will not necessarily be adopted by the other parties meaning the document is out of step with the other partners. · Will delay the timeframe for completion of the final Strategy.

5. Conclusion

5.1 This report recommends that the revised Nelson Biodiversity Strategy 2017/18 be adopted by Council.

Leigh Marshall

Environmental Programmes Advisor

Attachments

Attachment 1: Nelson Biodiversity Strategy Revision 2017/18 A1957147 ⇩

Attachment 2: Revised Nelson Biodiversity Strategy - NCC Lead Action and Resourcing A1964413 ⇩

Important considerations for decision making

1. Fit with Purpose of Local Government

Participation in the Nelson Biodiversity Forum fits with the role of Local Government as the partnership approach, focused on better environmental outcomes for the region, aims to meet the current and future needs of the community at a local level.

2. Consistency with Community Outcomes and Council Policy

The Nelson Biodiversity Strategy/Forum aligns with all four themes within Nelson 2060, and with a number of Community Outcomes including:

· Our unique natural environment is healthy and protected

· Our communities are healthy, safe, inclusive and resilient

· Our Council provides leadership and fosters partnerships, a regional perspective, and community engagement

· Our region is supported by an innovative and sustainable economy

3. Risk

There is a low risk that if coastal biodiversity capacity is not secured as per the proposed Long Term Plan some additional resourcing may be required to deliver two coastal/marine actions. However, adoption of the Strategy does not commit the Council to any specific course of action in a given year. Where additional funds are required, they can be allocated via future Long Term Plan or Annual Plan processes.

4. Financial impact

There are no financial implications associated with this decision. Adoption of the Strategy does not commit the Council to any specific course of action in a given year. Actions within the Strategy are the responsibility of all 31 Partners to the Strategy.

5. Degree of significance and level of engagement

This matter is low significance because: the Strategy is consistent with Nelson City Council’s current levels of service and funding; and, the Nelson City Council has been collaborating with the community sectors that are concerned with the matters in the Strategy through the Nelson Biodiversity Forum for many years. No further consultation is proposed.

6. Inclusion of Māori in the decision making process

There are iwi partners that attend the Forum, and the draft Strategy has been discussed at a Nelson City Council Iwi Working Group (Nelson Plan) meeting, and circulated subsequent to that meeting.

7. Delegations

The Planning and Regulatory Committee has the responsibility for considering Biodiversity. The Committee has the power to Recommend, noting the adoption of the Strategy will be made by Council. The Committee’s Powers to Recommend:

· Development or review of policies and strategies relating to the areas of responsibility

Item 10: Section 36 State of the Environment monitoring and research charges

Planning and Regulatory Committee

29 May 2018

REPORT R9236

Section 36 State of the Environment monitoring and research charges

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To consider the proposed introduction and collection of annual State of the Environment monitoring and research charges.

2. Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee:

Receives the report Section 36 State of the Environment monitoring and research charges (R9236) and its attachment (A1947433); and

Approves the commencement of the preparation of a Statement of Proposal for annual State of the Environment monitoring and research charges; and

Notes that a Statement of Proposal will be prepared and brought back to the Committee for recommendation to Council.

3. Background

3.1 With a significant increase in the requirement for regional councils and unitary authorities to undertake science and monitoring programmes in recent years being driven by national legislation, there is a need to consider the best way of funding the Council’s State of the Environment monitoring and research programme.

3.2 Section 36 of the Resource Management Act 1991 provides for councils to collect annual research and monitoring charges. This gives local authorities the power to recover ‘reasonable’ costs associated with the State of the Environment monitoring function using charges payable by holders of resource consents. The charges must be either specific amounts or be determined by a reference to a scale of charges or formulae fixed by the Council. The Council must publish and maintain an up-to-date list of the charges.

3.3 Section 36 recognises the private good component of publicly funded environmental monitoring programmes and provides for some cost recovery where a private benefit is clear. A common example is water take consents informed by publicly funded hydrology programmes.

3.4 Many regional councils and unitary authorities are using this provision to contribute towards long-term environmental monitoring (State of the Environment) programmes and investigations (see Attachment 1). Typically, between 20 and 35% of the costs of science and monitoring programmes are being recovered. Currently Nelson City Council does not charge for this work so it is completely funded through rates.

4. Discussion

4.1 The Resource Management Act 1991 requires regional councils to undertake State of the Environment monitoring. Nelson City Council undertakes monitoring and reporting of state and trend of the Region’s natural resources, in particular:

· monitoring of river, estuary and groundwater condition;

· monitoring of groundwater and rivers to determine the amount of water available for allocation and to manage the reliability of supply for existing users;

· investigations of the values in water bodies to be managed including fish, invertebrates (insects), algae, water quality and out-of-stream uses;

· monitoring of air quality;

· monitoring of biodiversity;

· monitoring of marine biosecurity;

· monitoring of soil quality (programme will be established before the end of June this year);

· reporting to the public and Central Government (including on the Land Air Water Aotearoa website (LAWA.co.nz) on natural resources in the region.

4.2 The Council may fix different charges for the different costs it incurs in the performance of its various functions, powers, and duties – i.e. different schedules can apply to different activities (air monitoring versus water quality monitoring) or for some activities and not others.

4.3 Charges may be fixed only in the manner set out in section 150 of the Local Government Act 2002 after using the Special Consultative Procedure set out in section 83 of that Act. The fees prescribed must not provide for the local authority to recover more than the reasonable costs incurred by the local authority for the matter for which the fee is charged.

4.4 Recovery of $100,000 per year from these charges is provided for in the Draft Long Term Plan 2018-2028.

4.5 If the proposed approach is approved, a Statement of Proposal will be developed for adoption by Council.

4.6 If the Statement of Proposal is adopted, a Special Consultative Procedure, as set out in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002, will be followed to seek feedback on the establishment of an appropriate level of fees and charges. The proposed timeframe for this process is:

Planning & Regulatory Committee 5 July 2018	Consider draft Statement of Proposal
Council 9 August 2018	Statement of Proposal approval
13 August 2018	Start public consultation
13 September 2018	Close public consultation
20 September 2018	Submissions to Councillors
4 October 2018 Planning & Regulatory Committee	Submission hearing
Council meeting 25 October 2018	Recommendations to Council
1 November 2018	Fees start

5. Options

5.1 The options are either to retain the status quo or approve an approach to establish State of the Environment monitoring charges which will require a Special Consultative Procedure under the Local Government Act 2002.

Option 1: Approve the proposed approach to establish State of the Environment Monitoring charges (recommended approach)
Advantages	· The cost of Council’s State of the Environment monitoring will be balanced more fairly according to public and private benefit. · It makes use of tools available to recover costs and adopt best practice used by other councils.
Risks and Disadvantages	· Requires time and staff resources to work through the Special Consultative Procedure. · There would be an additional ongoing administrative cost to implement.
Option 2: Business as usual
Advantages	· Time/staff resources spent on the Special Consultative Procedure and ongoing implementation is saved.
Risks and Disadvantages	· Ongoing and potentially increasing costs of State of the Environment monitoring and research is borne completely by the public through rates.

6. Conclusion

6.1 This report recommends the adoption of an approach to establish charges for the Council’s State of the Environment monitoring and research programme. The next step would be the development of a Statement of Proposal which would be brought to the Committee to consider recommending to Council. Following approval of the Statement of Proposal by Council, the Special Consultative Procedure would commence.

Richard Frizzell

Environmental Programmes Officer

Attachments

Attachment 1: A1947433 Sec 36 RMA Science and Monitoring charges - Council approaches ⇩

Important considerations for decision making

1. Fit with Purpose of Local Government

Section 150 of LGA 2002 provides for charges to be set by Council after using the Special Consultative Procedure set out in section 83 of that Act.

2. Consistency with Community Outcomes and Council Policy

The Council’s Long Term Plan includes levels of service for State of the Environment monitoring. This report aligns with the following Community Outcomes:

· Our unique natural environment is healthy and protected

· Our urban and rural environments are people friendly, well planned and sustainably managed.

3. Risk

The proposed approach will enable the Council to share the costs of its science and environmental monitoring with those who benefit and requires a formal Special Consultative Procedure to ensure charges are reasonable. There may be some adverse reaction from affected consent holders.

4. Financial impact

There is no financial impact at this stage as the Committee is being asked only to approve an approach.

5. Degree of significance and level of engagement

This matter is of low significance. However, if the proposal is eventually approved, consultation using the Special Consultative Procedure will be undertaken as it introduces new charges.

6. Inclusion of Māori in the decision making process

Maori have not been consulted on this report.

7. Delegations

The Planning and Regulatory Committee has the responsibility for considering Environmental Matters, including monitoring. The Committee has the power to decide this matter, noting the adoption of the Statement of Proposal will be made by Council. The Committee’s Powers to Recommend include:

· Statements of proposals for Special Consultative Procedures, or proposals for other formal legislative consultation procedures, falling within the areas of responsibility.

Item 11: Nelson Plan Update

Planning and Regulatory Committee

29 May 2018

REPORT R8994

Nelson Plan Update

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To seek agreement that the Draft Nelson Plan content be provided to statutory stakeholders and iwi partners for feedback.

1.2 To confirm that feedback from iwi partners and key stakeholders and potential amendments will be provided to the 22 November 2018 Planning and Regulatory Committee meeting ahead of any wider release of the Draft Nelson Plan.

1.3 To note an amendment to the indicative notification date of the Nelson Plan.

2. Summary

2.1 The Draft Nelson Plan is proposed to be released to statutory stakeholders and iwi partners for feedback from June to September 2018.

2.2 This milestone is significant and is the result of excellent feedback to date from Councillors, iwi partners, key stakeholders, and peer reviewers.

2.3 The revised draft will be reported to the Planning and Regulatory Committee in late 2018, prior to wider public release.

3. Recommendation

That the Planning and Regulatory Committee

Receives the report Nelson Plan Update (R8994) and its attachments (A1955071 and A1923677); and

Approves the release of the Draft Nelson Plan in accordance with the Draft Nelson Plan Overview (A1955071) for statutory stakeholder and iwi partner feedback; and

Approves amending the indicative timeline for public notification of the Nelson Plan from May 2019 to July 2019.

4. Background

4.1 At the 3 October 2017 Planning and Regulatory Committee meeting the Committee agreed that:

· The Draft Regional Policy Statement (RPS) remain as a working draft until it is updated and incorporated into the wider Nelson Plan for further community feedback in mid-2018; and

· The Draft RPS be updated to reflect national policy changes and the City Vision once it has been adopted by Council; and

· The Nelson Plan would be notified in May 2019 following the planning peer review in early 2018, the release of the Draft Plan to statutory stakeholders and iwi in April 2018, and public release in August 2018.

4.2 A summary of 2017 Nelson Plan workshop recommendations and direction was accepted by the Planning and Regulatory Committee as part of the Strategy and Environment quarterly report at the 23 November 2017 meeting.

4.3 While officers have been developing the Nelson Plan a number of national policy changes have been enacted including Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) reforms. These changes now require alignment with national planning standards and the National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (NESPF).

4.4 Officers have been working with the Ministry for the Environment, other unitary Councils and key stakeholders (such as forestry companies) to prepare for these national policy changes.

4.5 There has been a delay of two months in reporting the changes resulting from the planning peer review, staff changes, and national policy changes. This is discussed further in the report below.

5. Discussion

Overview of Nelson Plan Changes

5.1 A summary of the revised timeline for notification of the Nelson Plan is outlined in section 5.24 of this report.

5.2 Attachment 1(A1955071) summarises the changes that have been requested to the Nelson Plan as a result of:

· feedback on the Draft RPS in 2016;

· Council workshops relating to regional and district plan matters in 2017; and

· The planning peer review undertaken in early 2018.

5.3 The summary table provides an overview of the current draft Nelson Plan and shows how various forms of feedback have been incorporated into the latest version of the Draft Nelson Plan.

5.4 The content of the summary table will be workshopped on 29 May 2018 with Council prior to the release of the Draft Nelson Plan to statutory stakeholders and iwi partners.

Some Content of the Draft Nelson Plan Is Not Complete.

5.5 Content not yet complete is largely focused on “Special Areas”. These are provisions that relate to specific areas of Nelson such as the Port, the Airport, the Hospital, quarries, large format retail areas such as Mitre 10 Mega, Cawthron, and future urban areas.

5.6 This content will be firmed up over the initial statutory and iwi engagement period from June to August 2018 in conjunction with affected landowners and will be finalised for public release as part of the Draft Nelson Plan in late 2018.

5.7 Landowners of “Special Areas” have asked for more time to see the draft zoning provisions (Rural, Industrial, Inner City, Residential) so that they can compare standard zone provisions with the aspirations for their sites ahead of wider public release.

5.8 Officers will work closely with these key landowners over June to August 2018 to assess their aspirations. These aspirations could influence the November 2018 version of the Draft Nelson Plan.

5.9 Additional technical work has been undertaken relating to coastal erosion/inundation and slope stability. This work is still in draft form and will be reported to the Committee over the statutory and iwi engagement period (June to August 2018).

5.10 This work may need to be de-coupled from the November 2018 version, and possibly the notified version, of the Nelson Plan given the need for significant landowner engagement on these matters.

Peer Review Comments Adopted by Officers

5.11 Council engaged planning peer reviewers, Christine Foster and Gina Sweetman, to ensure the Draft Nelson Plan is fit for purpose ahead of draft release.

5.12 A Planning peer review has now been completed for the remainder of the Nelson Plan - the regional and district plan objectives, policies, and rules. A summary of planning peer review feedback by Nelson Plan chapter is included at Attachment 1. In general the peer reviewers have highlighted the need to:

· Amend the “Social and Economic Wellbeing” chapter of the Draft RPS to a “Growth and Urban Form” chapter to better reflect the National Policy Statement Urban Development Capacity, the Resource Management Act reform, the direction of the National Planning standard, and planning best practice (Auckland Council made the same changes as a result of hearing commissioner recommendations).

· Reframe some objectives and policies to ensure they are correctly expressed as outcomes, active statements, and are better linked to rules.

· Replace assessment criteria with clear policies for greater statutory weight.

· Reformat rule tables to distinguish between activity-based rules and bulk and location rules, and be clearer about which activities are permitted.

5.13 Most of the significant changes that have been recommended relate to the District Plan zone chapters rather than the citywide and regional plan provisions.

5.14 Officers have worked over March to May 2018 to address the issues that have been raised by peer reviewers. Changes have been incorporated and have been summarised in the right hand column of Attachment 1. It is considered that the Draft Nelson Plan is now in a form appropriate for statutory and iwi partner engagement.

5.15 As noted earlier, the “Special Area” parts of the Plan are being further developed with key stakeholders. These parts of the Plan will be peer reviewed ahead of reporting to the Committee in November 2018. A full legal review of the Nelson Plan and a cost benefit analysis is also proposed ahead of the planned November 2018 wider public release of the Draft Nelson Plan.

City Vision to be Incorporated into Draft RPS

5.16 The Planning and Regulatory Committee approved the Working Draft RPS on the basis that it would be incorporated into the Draft Nelson Plan in April 2018 and updated once the City Vision was adopted by Council. A place holder has been provided in the Draft RPS for the City Vision to be included. The City Vision was adopted by Council on 22 February 2018. A copy of the City Vision is appended at attachment 2 (A1923677). The City Vision is:

Nelson is the Smart Little City: e tāone tōrire a Whakatū.

Nelson is a vibrant place where people are deeply connected with, and committed to, their natural, social and cultural environment and enjoy fulfilled lives in smart, sustainable communities.

5.17 The Vision also includes four key priorities to be achieved over the next ten years:

· Infrastructure.

· Environment.

· CBD Development.

· Lift Council performance.

5.18 The City Vision is closely aligned with the draft RPS vision which includes some of the following outcomes:

· Infrastructure services that meets the community’s needs and supports growth and development in the right places, at the right time, to ensure maximum efficiency.

· Nelson is a beautiful place to live, where we work together and feel connected to the City, and people and the natural environment. Nelson is a place where our natural environment and health and wellbeing is maintained and enhanced.

· A city centre that is the premier commercial centre in the top of the South Island and is a hub of tourism, entertainment and events.

5.19 Reference to the City Vision will be incorporated into the Draft RPS prior to release to statutory stakeholders and iwi partners.

National Policy Changes – A watching Brief

National Planning Standards

5.20 The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is currently developing National Planning Standards that outline the content and structure of District Plans, Regional Plans, and Unitary Plans. Nelson City Council officers have worked closely with MfE to ensure that the unitary plan standards will align with the Nelson Plan Structure.

5.21 Draft National Planning Standards will be released in April/May 2018 for public feedback, with the aim of being finalised in 12 months. Officers will engage with MfE to ensure that the November 2018 Draft and July 2019 notified version of the Nelson Plan aligns with mandatory National Planning Standards.

National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (NESPF)

5.22 Council has recently updated the Operative Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP) to accord with the NESPF. The Council can elect to be stricter than the NESPF in order to achieve improved biodiversity and freshwater outcomes. These matters will need further assessment and will be considered as part of the Nelson Plan process following statutory stakeholder, iwi partner, and wider community feedback throughout 2018.

Air Quality

5.23 Preliminary feedback from MfE officers indicates that the review of the National Environmental Standard Air Quality (NESAQ) will be publically released for consultation in the second quarter of 2019. Potential changes to the NESAQ will need to be highlighted to the community as part of the public release of the Draft Nelson Plan in November 2018.

Notification

5.24 As briefly outlined in the background section of this report, there has been a two month delay to the Nelson Plan timeline approved in October 2017 due to the volume of changes resulting from peer review comments, staff changes, and national policy changes. Effectively this means that the indicative date for public notification moves from May 2019 to July 2019. The revised timeline is summarised below:

· June 2018 - Release statutory stakeholder and iwi version of the Draft Nelson Plan for feedback.

· June - September 2018– Engage with key stakeholders and iwi and finalise legal review and Cost Benefit Analysis.

· September – October 2018 – Compile feedback and amend Draft Nelson Plan.

· November 2018 – Report Revised Draft Plan to Committee seeking public release.

· December – March 2019 – Engage with the public on Draft Nelson Plan.

· March – May 2019 – Compile feedback and amend the Plan for notification.

· June 2019 – Report to Council ahead of public notification.

· July 2019 – Publically notify Nelson Plan.

· July 2019 onwards – Undertake submission, hearing, and appeal process.

5.25 To achieve the revised timeline creates a number of pinch points, particularly for staff summarising feedback on the Statutory and iwi version of the Draft Nelson Plan (September 2018) and the feedback resulting from the wider public release of the Draft Nelson Plan (March 2019). It is difficult to ascertain the degree of feedback that will be received at this stage.

5.26 As part of Council’s partnership approach with iwi, it has committed to providing iwi with three months to review the draft version of the Plan ahead of public release. This commitment is to be achieved.

5.27 An alternative is to release the draft to statutory stakeholders and iwi at the same time as the wider public. This approach would not meet the commitment and statutory requirements for iwi and would not allow Government agencies to provide useful feedback. Consequently this option is not recommended.

5.28 The other key pinch point in the timeline will be summarising the feedback from the wider community in March 2019.

5.29 The volume of feedback is likely to be significant and may take some time to summarise. This matter will need to be monitored and reported on once the quantum of feedback has been ascertained.

Options

5.30 Options for the Nelson Plan timeline to draft release and notification were considered at the 3 October 2017 Committee meeting. The Committee agreed with the timeline on the basis that the proposed timeline would meet iwi obligations and Councils commitment to releasing a draft that is fit for purpose, and would increase the likelihood of broader support. .

5.31 This report recommends extending the Nelson Plan timeframe by two months. It is considered that notification by July 2019 is achievable. The extension meets the previously stated intention of being fit for purpose and having time for engagement. A significant risk to the timeframe is the extent of feedback received. If the volume of feedback is significant then the timeframe may need to move or additional (unbudgeted) resource will be required.

6. Conclusion

6.1 This report recommends releasing the Nelson Plan for statutory stakeholder and iwi partner feedback in June 2018.

6.2 It is recommended that the overall timeline for public notification be extended to July 2019 due to the two month delay in responding to peer review feedback, staff changes, and national policy change.

Matt Heale

Manager Environment

Attachments

Attachment 1: Draft Nelson Plan Overview (A1955071) ⇩

Attachment 2: City Vision (A1923677) ⇩

Important considerations for decision making

1. Fit with Purpose of Local Government

The proposal will enable meaningful input into the Nelson Plan and is therefore the most efficient means of achieving the purpose of the Resource Management Act and Local Government Act.

2. Consistency with Community Outcomes and Council Policy

The draft Nelson Plan aligns with Community Outcomes and Nelson 2060 goals by appropriately managing the natural environment, setting relevant health and safety measures, co-ordinating landuse and infrastructure planning, having well planned urban and rural environments, adapting to natural hazards, and involving the community, key stakeholders, and iwi partners in the development of the Plan. The Nelson Plan development process is consistent with that provided for within the Annual Plan and Draft 2018-2028 LTP.

3. Risk

The Nelson Plan development has been undertaken using best practice and in consultation with key stakeholders, iwi partners, and the community. A Planning peer review and consent testing has been carried out and a legal review and a cost benefit analysis is planned. Further feedback will be provided on the Draft Plan ahead of public notification. Officers have also worked closely with MfE to anticipate future national policy change.

Any delays in releasing the Draft Nelson Plan will significantly compromise a notification date of July 2019.

4. Financial impact

The costs associated with Nelson Plan development are funded within the Annual Plan and the Draft 2018-2028 LTP. The recommendations will not add to these anticipated costs.

5. Degree of significance and level of engagement

This matter is of high significance because the Nelson Plan will impact on the majority of the community. Key stakeholders, iwi partners, and the wider community will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the Draft Nelson Plan ahead of the formal submission and hearing process.

6. Inclusion of Māori in the decision making process

Members of Council’s Iwi Working Group have had input to the development of the Nelson Plan and will have three months to provide feedback on the Draft Nelson Plan as requested.

The wider Maori community will have an opportunity to provide feedback on the Draft Nelson Plan following public release at the end of 2018.

7. Delegations

The Planning and Regulatory Committee has the power to decide matters relating to resource management plans.

“6.3.2 - The Planning and Regulatory Committee has the power to decide:

All functions…conferred on Council by relevant legislation not otherwise delegated to officers; and

Undertake community engagement….for any proposals falling within the areas of responsibility.”

Note – Areas of responsibility include the Regional Policy Statement and District and Regional Plans (6.3.1).