To: Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation
Date: 10 March 2020
In light of the presentation and strategic discussion on management planning that the Authority engaged in at the October 2019 meeting, it became clear that a new approach to statutory management planning processes is required. The design of the system should better reflect the capacity of the resources the Department allocates to planning.
At the December 2019 meeting, you proposed, as a possible solution, the use of a template for the CMSs and NPMPs, under the National Planning Standards in the Resource Management Act 1991, and asked that the Authority provide their feedback. Comments from Authority members include:
To summarise, the Authority agree that a template is an option that should be explored in full. If approached correctly, this could allow for an adaptable planning process that maintains national direction and standards, whilst allowing for locale issues to be considered.
We are certainly of the collective opinion that a fundamental change to the current planning processes must occur in order to tackle the growing number of overdue and outdated plans, and to ensure robust and relevant plans moving forward.
At the April 2020 meeting, Mike Slater, DOC Deputy Director-General Operations, will be present for a further strategic discussion on the Department’s Management Planning Framework. We anticipate a dynamic discussion that sheds light on the avenues being explored by the Department to facilitate improvement of the planning processes.
No reira
E noho ora mai
Edward Ellison ONZM
Chairperson NZCA