The Kotahi Plan

The Kotahi Plan is the regional resource management plan, which will combine the Regional Policy Statement, Regional Plan and Regional Coastal Environment Plan.  This will set out how we will use and protect our natural and physical resources.

The legislation which guides the content of the plan is the Resource Management Act 1991, the purpose of which is to promote sustainable management of natural and physical resources.  The National Policy Statements are national direction for matters of national significance and National Environmental Standards prescribe technical standards such as methods at a national level.  These sit under the RMA, but also guide the plan development.

Central government updated its National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management in 2020 (NPSFM 2020). The updated policy requires regional councils to give effect to the concept of Te Mana o Te Wai in plans and policy statements, and in doing so councils must develop a plan for maintaining and improving the state of freshwater in the region. It also requires councils to:

• Set long-term visions for water informed by aspirations of tangata whenua and communities;
• Actively involve tangata whenua in freshwater management such as the preparation of policy statements and plans;
• Investigate options for tangata whenua involvement in other RMA processes;
• Establish Freshwater Management Units for monitoring and reporting purposes.

Te Mana o Te Wai is the fundamental concept that underpins the NPSFM 2020 and reflects the vital importance of freshwater. It imposes a hierarchy of obligations that prioritise how freshwater must be managed. The hierarchy is as follows:

1. The health and well-being of the water
2. The health needs of people (i.e. drinking water)
3. The ability of people and communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural well-being

The Kotahi plan will incorporate the concept of Te Mana o Te Wai and its hierarchy of obligations. (Find out more here -Te Mana o Te Wai Factsheet).  Every region council must engage with communities and tangata whenua to determine how Te Mana o te Wai applies to water bodies and freshwater ecosystems in the region.

We are working in catchments which relate to the biophysical environment.  This will help to have conversations which look at the environment holistically, ki uta ki tai, from the mountains to the sea and how we deliver better environmental outcomes through integrated management. 

We aim to engage with everyone in Hawke’s Bay.  We are engaging with tangata whenua and our communities, as well as the Territorial Authorities, primary industry, stakeholders and environmental groups.

An eplan is an online interactive document that allows users to search for a particular property and see the rules and policies that apply to that particular property. The National Planning Standards (2019) require councils to have an eplan.