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
- Confused by Environmental Legislation? You are Not Alone.
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- How Tree Canopies Transform Neighbourhoods and Enhance Lives
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- The rise or fall of rural lifestyle blocks in the Selwyn District?
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- Time's up on the RMA
- Rivers, Lakes and Coastline, Public Space for All
- Your Rights as an Affected Neighbour: Navigating Development Under the RMA
- What does a professional planner do?
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- Councils are Increasing Residential Density, but why, who does it benefit?
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- Navigating New Opportunities: The Importance of Land Development Planning in 2024
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- How lizards might affect your new development
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- With increasing density, good design matters
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- Balancing Common Sense and Legal Process under the RMA: Protecting Communities and the Environment
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED)
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- What does The Selwyn District Plan (appeals version) mean for the planning process and consent?
- Burning crop stubble on your property?
- How to navigate Rural Land Development Under the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Soils
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- Historic Heritage Challenges for Landowners
- Our History - How We All Play a Part in its Protection
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- The Great Forestry Debate
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- Flood Management | Changes in Selwyn
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- What to do when you inherit land
- New Indigenous Biodiversity Legislation Mandates Significant Natural Area Identification
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- The National Policy Statement for Natural Hazard Decision-Making and its effects on Resource Consents
- Time matters – With Resource Consent
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- The dream of subdividing your land
- Have your say on Development Projects