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Forest and Bird's conservation advocacy faces a new challenge. For many years the Society and its members have campaigned for integrated planning laws, which recognised the intrinsic value of the natural world. We have these now with the Resource Management Act (RMA), and currently resource management plans to implement this legislation are being drawn up around the country.

Under the RMA, resource management plans can safeguard the values of any natural feature, resource or ecosystem, regardless of land tenure. They will usually be the only mechanism providing for public interest in the management of natural areas on private land. Aside from direct habitat protection they can be a powerful tool in 'greening' our consumer society when used with other methods available to councils.

The plans now being created are the first to be produced under the RMA. Their precedent will set the standard for environmental management in this country for the indefinite future. This will include the standard of protection and management for forests, wetlands and tussocklands in private ownership. Quality standards will also be set for communal resources such as freshwater, coastal waters and air.

If our efforts now can ensure that resource management plans have a strong conservation focus, the environmental benefits will be evident for many years to come.

Forest and Bird is the only environmental group with a nationwide grass roots organisation capable of a comprehensive and consistently good input into plans throughout the country. Local environment groups will make an important contribution but they lack a strong national network for support. The Department of Conservation has an important advocacy role to play but it needs our help.

Developers and resource users will be commenting too, but this time the law tends to be on our side.

Each branch will have to deal with at least two councils (regional and district). Many will cover several districts, particularly in thinly populated areas, which often have the highest conservation values. These guidelines have been developed to make your branch's resource management work easier and more effective.

Forest and Bird branches should develop good working relationships with the councils in their area. Both parties have a lot to gain from doing so as they bring different assets to the relationship. Forest and Bird has people with environmental knowledge and skills, many of whom regularly visit the most inaccessible (but ecologically valuable) parts of the district or region. Councils have both the money and statutory obligation to ensure appropriate management of the environment.

Forest and Bird, along with the Department of Conservation, provides councils with good sources of information about the local environment. If a council is to perform its functions properly, it needs to know what's happening in its area, and Forest and Bird members can be invaluable 'eyes on the ground'. Apart from monitoring the environment and the activities of developers, Forest and Bird members can (and do) help through practical work such as habitat restoration and pest control.

The combined environmental knowledge of a Forest and Bird branch is also valuable in statutory planning. We can propose issues, policies and methods which the council may have overlooked, and we can uphold a strong pro-environment stance. This will help ensure the council takes a balanced approach in the face of strong anti-environment lobbying. The branch can also identify areas of ecological significance to be noted on a plan.

For its part, a council can assist local conservation in several ways. Firstly, its plans set the rules for the management of natural resources including native habitats on private land. Councils also have the money and the mandate to provide education and promotion of conservation and sound environmental practices. In delivering services to the community, councils can do so in a way that causes the least environmental impact. Finally, councils are major landowners in their own right, and they can manage much of this land for conservation purposes.

There are other publications which can provide guidance to Resource Management Advocacy. Highly recommended are:

• The Resource Management Act (1994 edition) with amendments and regulations. Available from the larger bookshops or from Bennetts Government Bookshop, PO Box 5334, Wellington, for $33.25 including amendments.

• The Handbook of Environmental Law, Forest and Bird, Nov 1992. $26.95 plus $3 p&p from Forest and Bird.

• Forest and Bird's Policy Booklet, Jan 1994. $7.00 including p&p from Forest and Bird.

Also worth consulting are:

• Having your say!! ECO guidelines for community input into policies and plans, Environment and Conservation Organisations of NZ, May 1993. $10 from Box 11057 Wellington.

• The Resource Management Information series, from the Ministry for the Environment. The Ministry has offices in the four main centres.

The Resource Management Act came into force on 1 October 1991. Its long title describes it as "an Act to restate and reform the law relating to the use of land, air and water". This indicates the scale of the changes - a complete rewrite of New Zealand's natural resource laws. It took a complex network of ad hoc existing laws and transformed them into one integrated statute for the management of natural resources. The enactment of the Resource Management Act was a landmark in New Zealand legal history.

The sustainable management of natural and physical resources is firmly entrenched as the overriding objective of the Act. On the world scene, sustainable management has only recently become a fashionable concept in environmental law. The RMA is seen by the rest of the legal world as the first legislative test of the concept of sustainable management.

This section gives some explanation of the most significant features of the RMA. If you are involved in resource management the background of the legislation should shape your advocacy just as it shapes the decisions of councils.

Part I of the Act (Interpretation and Application) gives significant definitions. Definitions of words can be of critical importance in determining the practical effect of policies and rules. Section 2 lists most definitions, while "effect" is defined in section 3 and sustainable management is defined in section 5. The meaning of some other key words and phrases in the Act will eventually be determined by the courts.

The critical part of the RMA is Part II, Purpose and Principles. It sets out the priorities and philosophy of the Act in four short sections (sections 5-8, see Attachments). Anyone having any involvement in resource management should make themselves familiar with this part of the Act.

Section 5 states the purpose of the Act and gives district and regional councils the responsibility for ensuring that the natural resources of their area are sustainably managed. Sustainable management in the RMA is a complex concept and it is likely to be several years before the parameters are legally defined by the higher courts. The wording of the Act is:

(1) The purpose of this Act is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources.

(2) In this Act, "sustainable management" means managing the use, development, and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural wellbeing and for their health and safety while -

(a) Sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations; and

(b) Safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems; and

(c) Avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on the environment."

While there has been some disagreement over the general meaning of section 5, it is increasingly being accepted that this section sets in general terms environmental standards that must be met. They do not need to be balanced against economic needs. Sustainable management means the ecological values mentioned in (a), (b), and (c) have priority. The pursuit of communal or individual interest cannot be carried out at the expense of these values. The Board of Inquiry to the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement gave the following interpretation:

"In other words, subsection (2) does not call for a balance to be struck between two objectives; it requires that management of natural and physical resources be carried out in a way which achieves the objectives (applies the constraints) specified in (a), (b) and (c)."

Minister for the Environment Simon Upton has also stated his support for this approach.

The principles of the RMA are set out in sections 6, 7 and 8. They serve to further explain the objectives of the Act and the concept of sustainable management.

Section 6 sets out matters of national importance which decision makers must recognise and provide for (which implies some flexibility in application). Decisions under the RMA suggest these matters will be taken very seriously by the courts, just as they were under the old Town and Country Planning Act.

Under S6(c) the protection of significant areas of indigenous vegetation and habitats of indigenous fauna is a matter of national importance. For criteria defining significant vegetation and habitat, see policy 3 under terrestrial habitat protection, page 42.

Section 7 sets out other matters which decision makers must have "particular regard to". Most notable amongst these is 7(d), "Intrinsic values of ecosystems," which are defined under section 2.

Section 8 requires decision makers to "take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The implications of this section are extremely complex, especially considering there are no universally accepted principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. However the Court of Appeal did define the principles in New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney General, and in 1989 the then Labour Government decided upon principles to guide government action. It should be noted that the principles of the Treaty are not the terms of the Treaty. In addition, to 'take into account' the principles of the Treaty does not necessarily mean that they should be given effect.

The introductory wording ("shall recognise", "have regard to", "take into account") of each section in Part II of the Act establishes a clear hierarchy amongst the purpose and principles of the Act. The hierarchy goes from section 5 to 8 in descending order of priority, so the principles in the earlier sections are of greater importance in the event of a conflict between them. As a simplified example, an applicant could not use section 7(c) (enhancement of amenity values) to justify a stadium development which would destroy an area of vegetation considered significant under section 6(c).

In spite of the hierarchy of matters to be considered, the sections of Part II can be looked upon as parts of a whole, and it is this whole which must achieve the purpose of the Act. Each decision will involve consideration of a different mix of the purpose and principles.

Part IV sets out duties and restrictions under the Act.

Section 9 defines the meaning of "use" for determining what is a use of land. Note that generally land cannot be used in a manner which contravenes a rule in a plan or a proposed plan. This provision is designed to protect the public interest while the plan is being developed.

The effect of section 9 is permissive in that any use not controlled by a plan is allowed1. However, district rules may require a resource consent to be obtained for any activity not specifically referred to in a plan (s76(4)(e)).

Sections 11 to 15 control subdivision, activities in the Coastal Marine Area, use of lake and river beds, use of water, and discharges, respectively. They take a different approach to section 9 in that generally everything is prohibited unless expressly allowed by a plan or a resource consent.

The Act (s85) makes it clear that no compensation is required for controls imposed on activities. Controls should not, however, preclude "reasonable" economic use of land.

Section 10 provides existing use rights. Generally, this allows an activity to contravene a plan on the condition that:

• the use was lawfully established prior to the proposed plan being notified; and

• the effects of the use have not changed (in character, scale or intensity) since the proposed plan was notified.

This will be an extremely important provision in the transition from old plans that were prepared under the Town and Country Planning Act to new plans prepared under the RMA. The use must be relatively continuous for it to be protected by this section. Also, not all existing uses, eg. some beach baches and landfills, are lawfully established.

The detailed transitional provisions of the Act are set out in Part XV. On 1 October 1991 all existing local water conservation notices and flows and level limits and clean air zones were deemed to form operative regional plans (s.368) (national water conservation orders become water conservation orders, s.243). These are to be replaced by plans prepared under the RMA.

Part VI of the Act is concerned with resource consents. A resource consent is essentially written permission to do something that would otherwise contravene a rule in a plan or the Act.

Section 87 lists five different types of resource consent:

• a land use consent (mainly district, but also regional councils)

• a subdivision consent (district council)

• a water permit (regional council)

• a coastal permit (regional council)

• a discharge permit (regional council)

The requirements of a resource consent application are set out in section 88 and the Fourth Schedule to the Act. The information provided in the application must be sufficient for the council to make an informed decision on the application (refer to information and monitoring).

The matters that a council must consider when making a decision on an application for resource consent are set out in section 104. Section 108 allows a council to impose conditions on the granting of consent as it sees fit. Such conditions may include a requirement to pay a bond or other charges at the council's discretion.

There are five main types of method that a council can use to implement the objectives and policies of a plan:

• Information and advice

• Rules

• Works and services (e.g. pest eradication)

• Economic instruments and other incentives (e.g. user charges, resource royalties or taxes, rates, subsidies and performance bonds)

• Advocacy.

It is essential that funding for the methods above is provided in the council's annual plan. All methods need some degree of funding to work. Without specific funding set aside in the annual plan, objectives and policies will never advance beyond good intentions.

Every council must prepare an annual plan under the Local Government Act. It will outline the council's intended objectives, the nature and scope of activities to be undertaken, the performance targets and measures to be applied and the costs of implementing the objectives of the plan.

As an interested party you should ensure that the objectives that you support in the council's resource management policies and plans are going to be funded adequately each year. Funding is a political process and so councils will support activities that they perceive to have significant public support.

While conservationists want good conservation outcomes from resource management plans, so the resource users want outcomes that meet their objectives.

Reasonable resource users and their representative groups aren't necessarily against conservation. Their objective in making a submission on a resource management plan is to minimise the impact of that plan on their business activities. If they can't avoid some form of impact, they want the plan to give them flexibility in dealing with it. Finally, they want the least possible costs of complying with the plan. It may be possible to accommodate these wishes without compromising the environment.

Reasonableness, however, will often be swamped by ideological opposition to any perceived infringement of property rights. Private property rights are by no means sacrosanct under the Resource Management Act. In fact, the underlying purpose of the Act is to establish a legislative framework by which government can control activities on private property.

Looking at the methods available to councils above, resource users will invariably push for the council to provide information and advice, works and services, and advocacy. Resource users tend to dislike rules, which are often perceived as a breach of property rights. They're usually against economic instruments too, in the belief that they will push costs up. They will promote self regulation and industry codes of practice as methods of achieving sustainable management. Most developers will also want the minimum public involvement in the consent process, for one or all of the following reasons:

• It may lengthen the consent process.

• It allows public scrutiny of their activities.

• By keeping the council honest, it will often lead to stricter conditions on any consent granted, or even lead to refusal of consent;

• They don't like other people having a say in their business, particularly people from outside their industry.

On the other hand, conservationists want good environmental outcomes. Rules provide the greatest environmental certainty that can be expected from the resource management process. Economic instruments may also be supported because they can be used to make resource users pay the true cost of their activities. Of course, conservationists also want public participation in the consent process. Under the RMA there is no need for a submitter on a consent application to prove that they have legal standing.

Most councils will be looking to reconcile these two apparently opposing perspectives. In addition many councils, particularly those in rural areas with a smaller rating base, will be hoping to minimise the costs of their environmental management. They will often look to do so through streamlining the consent process (perhaps by excluding the public).

In an attempt to reconcile industry and environment, many councils will prefer to organise 'voluntary' action on a collective basis. This is mainly applicable to the rural sector, with examples being 'Landcare' groups and co-operative action driven by organisations such as Federated Farmers.

Voluntary landcare planning can be an alternative to specific resource consent requirements for farming. The farmer and the council negotiate what is essentially a sustainable management plan for the farm. In return, the farmer has fewer resource consent requirements, as long as he/she continues to adhere to the plan. Alternatively, and more effectively, this type of landcare planning can be a condition of a resource consent. The farmer is thereby given flexibility in dealing with the rules.

In ideal situations these voluntary systems can provide good environmental results while satisfying the landowner's desire to avoid direct regulation. Voluntary systems, however, have considerable problems to overcome:

• They may be unenforceable under the RMA;

• They usually allow little opportunity for public involvement;

• They are not without cost to all parties; or

• They provide uncertain environmental results due to the above.

To overcome these problems, the public must be involved at the planning stage. The key is to ensure the rules in the plan set acceptable environmental standards. These must include standards such as good criteria defining areas of significant indigenous vegetation and habitat, and an effective riparian zone for retirement to protect water quality and habitat. The council must also make a commitment to monitoring the performance of the voluntary group in achieving these standards, and enforcing the rules where they fail. If either of these elements are missing, the system will fail to achieve the desired result.

Because of their many potential pitfalls, you should oppose 'voluntary' methods as a stand alone option. However you must be prepared to argue the case, either for an appropriate framework under the plan, or against them altogether. 'Voluntary' methods are not acceptable without plan rules which back them up. They are useful only as a means of providing flexibility in dealing with those rules. All the mechanisms involved must be set out in a plan.

In their plans, councils should classify activities according to the effects they expect the activity may have. The degree of control they have over an activity will depend on how it is classified in the plan. The various types of resource consent and how they will be dealt with are set out in a round-about way in section 105.

In effect, activities now generally fall into the following classes:

• Permitted: No consent required, but the plan may specify limits or standards which the activity must comply with. Activities outside these limits should be classified as controlled, discretionary etc.

• Controlled: Consent is automatically assured if the standards and terms set out in the plan are met. Council only has discretion to set conditions.

• Discretionary (restricted): Where the local authority has limited its discretion to particular matters, and has discretion to grant or refuse consent and impose conditions in relation to those matters only.

• Discretionary: Where the local authority has not limited its discretion to particular matters and retains a general discretion (including the ability to refuse consent) subject to section 104 etc.

• Non-complying: Where the local authority retains discretion to grant or refuse consent, but must refuse unless the effects of the activity will be minor, and granting consent would be consistent with the objectives and policies of the plan [see s105(2)(b)].

• Prohibited: No consent may be granted.

Land use activities that are not classified in a plan do not require consent and are allowed as of right. Discharges and most water based activities are non-complying if they are not classified. (refer to 'controls on activities' page 8).

A council can not refuse consent to an activity which is classed as permitted or controlled.

However, the same activity may be categorised in different ways according to the likely effects. For example, construction of a house may be a permitted activity, but if the house is above a certain size or height a discretionary resource consent may be required.

You will need to identify activities which concern you and consider how you want them to be categorised. If you have no problems with an activity then allow it to be permitted. Permitted activities need to be defined clearly to ensure that controls are retained on types of activities that have not been anticipated. Watch out for district plans that identify all the activities to be regulated, and then say everything else is permitted.

If you consider an activity to be generally OK, but can see effects that may need to be controlled, it should be classified a controlled activity, with appropriate conditions. Alternatively, classification as a limited discretionary activity may be appropriate if you can see circumstances where the activity might not be appropriate at all. For example, plantation forestry may be appropriate in most developed grassland areas, but not such areas with very steep slopes or in areas of high landscape values.

Activities that may or may not be appropriate, or with effects that will vary considerably from case to case, should be discretionary. The council can then decide the issue according to the evidence before it, without any restrictions on their authority. District plans should state that any activity not anticipated in the plan will be considered as a discretionary activity (or alternatively non-complying).

For those activities which you would generally expect to oppose, argue for them to be classified as non-complying. Activities that you know you will always oppose should be classified as prohibited.

The issue of public notification of resource consent applications is of fundamental importance both to good resource management outcomes and local democracy. Public notification provides for direct public involvement in the planning process - participatory democracy.

There is a general assumption under section 93 of the RMA that consent applications will be publicly notified. In practice however councils will attempt to use the provisions of s94 to avoid public notification for many types of consent application. This is because notification may increase processing costs. There is a price to pay for democracy, and councils would prefer not to pay it. Be prepared for battle on this issue.

Usually public notification will correlate directly with the way an activity is classified. For example, all controlled activities (regardless of what these activities actually are) might be processed without notification, while all and discretionary non-complying activities are notified.

Councils are democratically elected bodies who are given the responsibility of protecting the public interest. At some point we have to trust them to fulfil this duty, in accordance with the provisions of the plan. You will have to work out which activities you are prepared to let the council control without general public scrutiny. They are likely to be controlled or limited discretionary activities only. Remember that you are relying on the plan to protect the conservation interest in non-notified applications so do all you can to ensure it will achieve this.

Another possibility is for the public interest to be protected by groups that are specifically informed of non-notified applications, as an "affected person" under section 94. As a recognised conservation advocate, Forest and Bird, along with the Department of Conservation, is suitably qualified to fill this role for the purposes of conservation. Where the public interest is to be left in the hands of "affected persons", it is important to set down criteria for "affected" in the plan.

In debating the merits of public notification with a council, either verbally or in a submission, it is important to pull the focus away from money. To this end, councils should be encouraged to keep the cost of lodging a publicly notified consent application as close as possible to one which is non-notified.

Point out that people will only make a submission on a notified application if they believe their interests will be affected. The bottom line is, if the council is not notifying applications, they are limiting democracy.

It is important to understand the respective roles and responsibilities of regional and district councils. There is no point in advocating a policy to a council which it is not legally capable of implementing, or is more appropriately dealt with by another authority.

There is some potential for a duplication of effort between regional and district councils. This is mainly in the area of land management. The district council has the primary responsibility for controlling land use, but the regional council may also control land use, mainly for the protection of soil, water or air resources. A regional council may prepare policies for land use for other purposes, but will have to direct the district council to implement them. In addition to this crossover area, district and regional councils share the right to make plans and rules for hazardous substances and natural hazards control.

The functions, powers and duties of local authorities are set out in sections 30-36 of the RMA. The law relating to the preparation and review of regional plans is set out in sections 63-70, while sections 72-77 cover district plans. The matters that may be provided for in policy statements and plans are set out in the Second Schedule to the Act.

Under s30, regional councils have the following functions for the purpose of giving effect to the Act:

"(a) The establishment, implementation, and review of objectives, policies, and methods to achieve integrated management of the natural and physical resources of the region."

Generally, the Regional Policy Statement serves the purpose of achieving this function. The Regional Policy Statement should clarify the respective roles of the regional council and district councils, in order to avoid duplication of effort and co-ordinate resource management in the region.

"(b) The preparation of objectives and policies in relation to any actual or potential effects of the use, development, or protection of land which are of regional significance.."

This allows a regional council to set out policies for land use, but they must rely on district councils to implement them. Policies may be set out in the regional policy statement or in a regional land management plan (or something of a similar title), with implementation partly or entirely through the district plan.

"(c) The control of the use of land for the purpose of -

(i) Soil conservation.

(ii) The maintenance and enhancement of the quality of water in water bodies and coastal water.

(iii) The maintenance of the quantity of water in water bodies and coastal water.

(iv) The avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards.

(v) The prevention or mitigation of any adverse effects of the storage, use, disposal, or transportation of hazardous substances."

These functions may be implemented through objectives, policies and rules (which may require consents) in a regional plan. Any of these functions could forseeably be dealt with in some way through a land management plan or the like. Those functions in (ii) may be implemented though some type of water quality or catchment plan(s). The functions in (iii) and (iv) may be implemented through a variety of plans, more than likely including a waste management plan.

"(d) The control of the coastal marine area in the region..." (see s30 for details).

The coastal marine area is defined in the interpretation section of the Act (s2). Basically it is the area below the high tide mark out to the limits of the territorial sea (12 nautical miles). The regional coastal plan (the only plan regional councils are required to produce under the Act) will provide for this. The regional council shares responsibility for the coastal marine area with the Minister of Conservation. The Minister has a virtual power of veto over the contents of a coastal plan. See Chapter 7 Coastal Management for suggestions on how to respond to a proposed regional coastal plan.

"(e) The control of the taking, use, damming, and diversion of water, and the control of the quantity, level, and flow of water in any water body, including -

(i) The setting of any maximum or minimum levels or flows of water.

ii) The control of the range, or rate of change, of levels or flows of water.

(iii) The control of the taking or use of geothermal energy."

These functions will almost certainly be provided for in a water quality or catchment plan(s).

"(f) The control of discharges of contaminants into or onto land, air, or water and discharges of water into water"

The regional council will probably prepare a regional air quality plan, a discharges to land plan and water quality or catchment plan(s).

"(g) In relation to any bed of a water body, the control of the introduction or planting of any plant ..." (for various purposes as defined by s30).

This will probably be dealt with in a water quality or catchment plan(s).

Generally speaking, these functions do not give the right to manage fisheries, which is governed by the Fisheries Act 1983 (likely to replaced by a new Fisheries Act by the end of 1995), but they can control some of the effects of fishing.

Regional councils are also required, under other legislation, to plan for transport, harbour safety and navigation. They will also produce pest management strategies in accordance with the Biosecurity Act, which direct the control and eradication of weeds and animal pests.

In order to carry out their functions, regional councils can also impose regional levies, or provide public works, goods and services.

The resource management functions of district councils are far simpler than those of regional councils. Note that for the purposes of the RMA both district and city councils are considered district councils.

District councils control the use and development of land, which they do through their district plan. These plans are the primary controller of land use. They should set out objectives, policies and methods to achieve integrated management of the effects of land use, but these must be consistent with other resource management plans and policy statements.

As part of their land use planning function, district councils are responsible for protecting all land based ecosystems from unsustainable use. Protection of forests and tussocklands must come through the district plan.

In addition to their role in land use planning, district councils have exclusive responsibility for the control of subdivision, noise, and the surface of water in rivers and lakes. They share with regional councils the right to make plans and rules for hazardous substances and natural hazards (e.g. floods).

District councils have a wider range of responsibilities outside of resource management than regional councils. This is particularly true of service delivery functions, (eg. water and sewerage) and they are also increasingly involved in the promotion of economic and tourism development. These functions give them the potential to take more pro-active environmental action than purely regulatory control, but it may also create a conflict of interest for the council between its role as promoter of development and that of protecting the environment.

The Gisborne, Tasman, Marlborough and Chatham Islands District Councils, and the Nelson City Council are unitary authorities. They are district councils that do not have a supervisory regional council, so they take this role as well. They perform all the resource management functions of both types of organisation.

The process that a local authority goes through in preparing a plan can basically be separated into two parts - statutory and non-statutory. The non-statutory process comes first, and is the work put into preparing a proposed plan to the point where it is ready for formal public comment. The statutory process begins with public notification of the proposed plan. This part of the process is required by the RMA, and is the more formal part of the process with timeframes and procedures set down by the Act.

Under section 79 of the RMA, a plan must be reviewed every ten years. They may be reviewed more regularly if the council considers it appropriate. They can also be amended at any time.

Because the non-statutory process is not set down by the law, each council will have a slightly different approach, but most follow a reasonably similar process in producing a proposed plan. The plan will initially be prepared by the council's planning staff, probably in consultation with tangata whenua, Crown agencies, other local authorities, other interest groups and the public generally. Consultation will come through a combination of discussion documents open to submissions, public or private meetings, or a public workshop.

Interest groups must be involved in this early stage of plan formulation if they are to have a major influence on the general direction of the plan. Forest and Bird input should come as early as possible, so make sure you know the timetable the council is working to. Meet with the council's planning staff and discuss what you want. A good relationship with the council is a big advantage at this stage of the process.

The council staff will produce a plan and pass it on to the elected councillors. The councillors will assess the plan and make amendments as they see fit. At this point the plan will be released either as a draft plan or as a proposed plan. It is important to make the distinction between the two.

A draft plan is a non-statutory document, the last part of the informal consultation process and basically a practice run for the proposed plan. It will usually be released publicly and opened to submissions, but in some cases it will only be released privately for comment from the groups council considers to be significant players. If this is the case Forest and Bird should be involved. The council will then consider the submissions and amend the draft to produce a proposed plan.

Public notification of the proposed plan begins the statutory process set down by the Act. This process is set out in the diagram on the following page. The procedure may be slightly different for regional coastal plans.

The statutory process includes a round of further submissions. This is an opportunity to make a submission commenting on the submissions of others. Your further submission must be served on any submitter that is mentioned in the submission (clause 8a, First Schedule), so it pays to keep the number of submissions you comment on down to a manageable level. Generally speaking, comment on the submissions of the major organisations such as Federated Farmers, DoC and the Ministry of Forestry is the most valuable feedback you can provide.

At the hearing you have the opportunity to comment on the entire process, including the further submissions of others, in person.

Councils would prefer to iron out the problems with a plan before the statutory process begins. In practice however, submitters can use the prospect of legal action to sway the council at this stage (the cynical would say that some councils only take people seriously when this threat is used).

After the council has adopted the plan, any submitter may refer provisions that they dispute to the Planning Tribunal. This can work well for conservation. As an example, by referring just one section of the Hawke's Bay Regional Policy Statement to the Planning Tribunal, Forest and Bird has helped provide protection for all significant natural habitats in the Hawke's Bay Region. This outcome was achieved by agreement between the parties rather than a decision of the Tribunal.

Due to reasons of financial liability and constitutional requirements, branches cannot proceed with an appeal independently. A submitter has just 15 working days3 to lodge an appeal, so if you think you might wish to make an appeal you should contact a member of the Society's conservation staff or Executive immediately. Approval cannot be expected on just a few days notice. A paper is soon to be prepared outlining internal Forest and Bird procedure for appeals.

A good submission is the key to success during the statutory stage of the plan preparation process. The comments you make at a hearing may be limited by your submission, and your legal options certainly are.

Submissions are also important in the non-statutory process. There should be opportunities to make submissions on discussion documents and a draft plan.

Ideally, a submission will be an opportunity to confirm the arguments you have put forth at private meetings and public workshops in a persuasive piece of writing. The issue chapters should provide you with all the policy ideas you need to prepare a detailed and comprehensive submission.

There's no point in re-inventing the wheel. If you network with others and share your ideas you will save a lot of effort and probably achieve better results. Make sure you:

• Contact other community groups working on the same issues. Find out what DoC conservancies are doing and what priorities they have;

• Contact other Forest and Bird branches in your region/district who will be commenting on the same document. Consider a joint submission - it saves a lot of time;

• Keep your Field and Central Office Forest and Bird staff in touch with your progress. We're overseeing comment on RM plans, so we can provide you with helpful hints and good examples from other parts of the country. We appreciate receiving copies of submissions.

A plan needs more than a collection of policies and rules - it should be a statement of vision. What type of community and environment do we want to have in ten, twenty, or thirty years time? This is particularly important for district plans. Two basic tenets of a vision for the future should be:

• An enhanced natural and human environment.

• A more sustainable lifestyle.

These fundamental goals are difficult to argue with; it is the way to achieve them that is likely to cause conflict. A plan will need to use rules to control peoples activities against their individual interests, or what they consider to be their best interests. This is what makes a vision so important. If rules are linked to an accepted vision for the district, they suddenly seem reasonable, not draconian.

As a branch, you should discuss the sort of environment that you want to see in the future. Develop your own vision for the local environment - not just for natural habitats, but communities and lifestyles. Then sell that vision to your council. The council may adopt only part, or change and rework it, but you have at least set the agenda for debate.

Start pushing your environmental vision and the concept of an ecological plan structure as early as possible - preferably when a draft plan is being prepared or earlier. This is when the council will be most responsive to new ideas and fundamental changes in direction.

Conservation and environmental enhancement should be fundamental to the resource management of any district or region. A district plan in particular should also be a conservation plan - a strategy for maintaining, restoring and linking the habitats of the district in a co-ordinated way.

The way that a district or regional plan is structured has a major influence on the ease with which it will embrace conservation. You should suggest a structure that can easily recognise underlying ecosystem diversity, vulnerability and potential. It is worth effort to seek this. If you can achieve an ecosystem-based plan structure, the years ahead may be considerably easier in that conservation will be an integral part of resource management planning, not an optional tack on.

As most of New Zealand has been severely modified, the potential for enhancement or ecosystem restoration must be seriously addressed. Encourage mapping based on the broad underlying ecosystems that exist or have existed in the past. Then policies and methods can be developed for issues and effects to recognise these ecosystems, not only for their protection, but also to require restoration works at the time of any development.

Even if natural vegetation has been largely removed, give every area a name to indicate past and potential ecosystems of each land type. Restoration should be a major future activity.

One model divides the whole district into either protection or enhancement; policies relate to specific land types (land systems or ecosystems are alternatives) and management is catchment related to address the special characteristics of each place. Refer to the Landscape Planning and Protection chapter for an example of this type of plan structure - the district plan for the Hauraki Gulf Islands of Auckland. Regional plans could have a similar framework.

If a plan cannot now be revamped to achieve an ecosystem structure, at least seek overall ecosystem management policies and methods. Push for some recognition of ecosystems in the planning maps too. This will at least give the basis of an ecological plan structure which can be built on in the future.

Remember to look not only at what the policy or plan says but also at what it omits. Omissions are sometimes difficult to spot unless you start with a check-list such as that at the end of this chapter.

When assessing a plan keep the functions of the council concerned in mind. The plan might not provide protection from certain activities but this may not be the responsibility of that council. It may also provide for protection in a way that you have not anticipated. Check for such an alternative, but if you can't find one make sure you state your concerns.

If you are unsure of how a plan deals with an activity, or whether it should be dealt with by that type of plan at all, ask one of the planners who prepared the plan to clarify. If you are uncomfortable with their response, check what they say against the provisions of the RMA or get a second opinion if you can.

While the objectives and policies in a plan are important, it is the methods of achieving those objectives and policies that are most critical.

Most plans will have a specific section on rules (although it may not be given prominence in the contents page). This is the part to focus your attention on. How have the environmentally significant activities been classified? Has the council retained discretion to decline potentially damaging consent applications? (refer to Classification of Activities page 11).

Think about the plan from the perspective of a particularly nasty developer. What damaging activities will you be able to get away with if the plan is adopted in its current form.

Rules are not the be-all and end-all of a plan. Objectives and policies are important because it is these provisions which set the tone of the document, and consent applications must be considered against this background. Rules are only one of the methods available to councils (as set out under Implementing policies and objectives page 10). Encourage the council to use them all where you feel there is just cause.

Policies and rules should be assessed for their effectiveness. In particular, they should be sufficiently certain and measurable to ensure that they do in fact achieve what they set out to do. There are a number of rules of thumb to use when deciding whether or not a rule is adequate:

It is no use having a rule written in vague terms. For example, a policy on water use which says that the council will "establish, where necessary, maximum or minimum levels or flows of water bodies" is useless because:

• It does not state when it isn't necessary to set levels and, if levels are set, why the maximums and minimums are set at those points.

• The objective is not clear. Is the rule designed to favour power companies, farmers, natural values or canoeists?

A much improved policy would state (amongst other things);

"Flow, temperature and level regimes will be established over the following rivers by the end of the years indicated:

• White River (1994)

• Red River (1995)

• Brown River (1996).

These regimes will be set to safeguard their value for drinking water, preservation of their natural character and outstanding natural features, their use for sustainable abstractive purposes, their instream use by present and future generations, mahinga kai and cultural value and their life-supporting capacity."

The policy should state in clear terms how it is to be implemented. Once again, look for certainty and precision. Bear in mind that the policies/rules etc. are what bind resource users, not the methods for their enforcement. Loose rules cannot be strictly enforced.

Without specific dates, councils can dodge accountability. Annual plans must set aside funding to meet the timelines set in policies and plans.

Test case. Can you beat the rule?

Think of a situation and try to apply the policy/rule to it. Is it tight enough? Are there loopholes? Can the objective of the rule be achieved some other and better way?

Here's some advice for writing an effective and legally sound submission:

Make your submission under the name of the Society, ie:

"This submission is made on behalf of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc., by the Society's Wanganui branch."

This covers us for possible appeals later on.

Give a few sentences on your branch and the interest it has in resource management.

Give the plan your general support. This gives you the option of objecting (or appealing) later if a change is made by the council to a provision which you did not comment on. You should give specific support to provisions which you think are particularly good and/or potentially controversial.

Identify the parts of the plan that you wish to oppose or support. For each one:

1. State clearly what provision of the plan you are submitting to, and whether you oppose or support the provision.

2. Give the reasons for your support or opposition. These can be brief but should spell out your reasons clearly.

3. Give local examples, where appropriate.

4. Set out under a separate heading ("relief sought", "change requested" or similar) exactly what you want the council to do to address your concerns. This may well mean rewriting the policy or rule in the form you wish to see it. Alternatively, insert one of the model policies and rules in this guide. You should describe what you are trying to achieve with your requested change, either in another separate paragraph or as part of your comments on the reasons for your concern. The issue chapters will be of greatest use to you in providing alternative policies and methods to those in the proposed plan.

Follow basically the same format where there is an omission that concerns you. State clearly your concerns and the addition or change that you wish to see in the plan.

At the end of your submission, state whether you wish to be heard at the hearing, and whether you would be willing to make (at the hearing) a joint case with others who made a similar submission.

• What are the key conservation and environmental issues in your region?

• Will the plan effectively provide for them?

(refer to notification issues, and classification of activities in this guide)

1. Protection and conservation of native forests, wetlands, tussocklands, dunelands, geothermal areas, coastal areas and mountainlands.
Do the policies recognise the need to protect native species and their habitats? Are there rules to control clearance, logging, burning or drainage of natural areas?

2. Protection of special ecological areas.
Does the council propose to work with DoC, F&B and other local environment groups to co-ordinate the protection of habitat? Are marine reserves promoted?

3. Control of domestic animals.
Will the plan control stock grazing in natural areas and prevent the fouling of waterways?

4. Pest management.
What controls are there on the introduction or farming of potential weeds and pests?

5. Protection of water quality and quantity in wetlands, lakes, rivers and the sea.
Are there inadequately treated industrial or agricultural outfalls into natural waters? How does the plan deal with the damming, diversion or extraction of water? What provisions are there for riparian management?
Is there appropriate control of activities on the surface of lakes and rivers (in district plans)?
Are the adverse effects of recreation activities such as windsurfing on lakes, vehicles in riverbeds and jetboats addressed?

6. Protection of public access to and alongside waterbodies.
What are the provisions for esplanade reserves? Are sensitive coastal areas identified? Are marine farms discouraged in these areas?

7. Conservation of soil resources and policies on sustainable agriculture, plantation forestry and control of erosion.
Will they achieve sustainable land management? What controls are there on pesticide use and spray drift?

8. Protection of natural features and landscapes.
Will natural features and landscapes be protected from urban sprawl or forestry development?

9. Control of air and land pollution.
Is there a smog problem and where does it come from? Is there a need for controls on car, factory, home fire or rural fire emissions? Is climate change considered? Are there controls on discharges to land? Is waste reduction a priority?

10. Energy and urban planning.
Will the plan lead to sustainable (generally compact) urban form? Are cycling and walking given the same transport planning priority as cars? Will the plan lead to lower use of cars? Are steps taken to encourage energy conservation?

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