By Anna Bensemann, Senior Planner, Baseline Group Marlborough | Jun 26, 2022
The expansion of our towns and cities, and our ever-growing obsession with rural lifestyle blocks has been threatening the viability of our productive soils for many decades. The Resource Management Act includes some tools for protecting this land from development, but these tools are often given lip service in light of the pressures to develop, leading to the slow and steady degradation of our key versatile soils.
On the other hand, individual land owners invest time and money into their land, sometimes across multiple generations. With variable economic times, some landowners need the ability to subdivide and sell to the market land that is marginal, or no longer required. Such ability facilitates innovation and technological advancement on the balance of many properties, or simply enables a happy retirement.
This balance is being tested by the proposed National Policy Statement (NPS) relating to Class 1, 2 and 3 land and possibly other productive vineyard lands. The proposal includes regulations as to the expansion of urban activities onto this land, and the subdivision or further fragment land that is considered to be highly productive.
The implications of this are that private land containing highly valuable soils, which make up 14% of New Zealand, will have an additional matter that will need to be considered at the time of any subdivision or development. As seen with the NPS on freshwater, these documents carry a significant amount of weight and should not be taken lightly. The NPS on freshwater has seen regional councils limiting how much water is available for irrigation and making the resource consents process more complicated, with layers of additional reporting and investigations into the effects of water takes and discharges on water bodies.
The NPS for highly productive soils appears on the face of it to be ensuring we have a farming industry secured into the future, but like any government lead policy the devil will be in the detail. The real issues will arise when the policy is implemented by local government on a case by case basis. Policies that are written for the big picture often overlook the site specific unique features or anomalies that mean private landowners should be able to further develop their Class 1, 2 or 3 lands.
Government received around 250 submissions on the draft NPS, and decisions on submissions are due soon after 22 July 2022. We will see the full extent of the outcome of this process in due course as rural landowners look to develop their land.
Articles you might be interested in
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- The dream of subdividing your land
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- The Great Forestry Debate
- Have your say on Development Projects
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- How lizards might affect your new development
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- Time's up on the RMA
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- What to do when you inherit land
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- What does a professional planner do?
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan