Aerial of dairy and cropping farms

Canterbury Regional Policy Statement paused

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The development of the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement, our key planning document, is paused until January 2026.

On Wednesday 27 November, Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) councillors voted to pause the development of the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement (CRPS) until January 2026 in light of recent changes in government direction on freshwater management.

Planning delayed by new legislation

The new legislation states that Councils must not notify freshwater planning instruments for public consultation before 31 December 2025 or until a new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management is gazetted (whichever is earlier).

Councillors also voted to engage with the Minister for the Environment to clarify if there is a pathway available to notify Plan Change 8 before January 2026.

Chair, Craig Pauling, acknowledged it was a day of tough decisions for Council, but given the changes to the Resource Management Act already in place and that have been signalled, councillors decided it was prudent to pause the CRPS.

“I’d like to thank all the staff for their work and the community for their engagement in this mahi and reassure them that input will inform our future planning work. We will continue to work with our communities to achieve the best outcomes for Waitaha/Canterbury,” said Chair, Craig Pauling.

About Plan Change 8

Water-related changes to several regional plans are collectively known as Plan Change 8. As agreed by Council in November 2024, the Chair wrote to the Minister for the Environment to ask which of the following might meet the criteria for applying for an exemption to the national direction as outlined in the previous section, which could potentially enable a plan change to be notified:

  • resolve unintended obstacles to stormwater management for infrastructure projects in fully allocated zones
  • remove some of the regulatory hurdles for people wishing to construct wetlands
  • carry-over provisions that limit further dairy intensification and better manage the potentially negative effects of winter grazing.

A verbal response was received from the Minister's office in May and will be discussed at a June briefing of Council. Council will then decide whether staff should prepare a plan change for notification or not and if 'yes', which elements it should include and which should subsequently be included in an application for an exemption. The Minister will want to consider the final pre-notification draft together with an exemption application before she will decide to grant an exemption, or not.

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