Developing the policy framework

Abstract

In addressing the significant resource management issues of an area, an effective plan must be based on a well-defined set of linked objectives, policies and methods that achieve sustainable management outcomes.

See also the guidance notes Writing provisions for regional and district plans and Structuring and organising regional and district plans.

back to top

Guidance note

• Before you start ....
• Writing methods
• Writing 'environmental results expected '
• Getting the linkages right
• Strategic approach
• Other tips

Before you start...

Make a plan to prepare the plan

• Preparing a plan, or even a change to a plan, involves a huge investment of resources, time and energy. Having an overall framework for the plan development process helps manage the plan's preparation and measure its progress, and facilitates better judgements about the allocation of resources for research and policy development. Using project management skills in the plan preparation process can therefore be beneficial.
  
  
• Consider the development of a combined planning document between two or more councils at the regional and/or district level, which may relate to a regional policy statement, regional plan, or district plan. Under s.80 of the Resource Management Act (RMA), councils must consider developing a combined planning document where significant cross-boundary issues exist.

Establish a common understanding

Clarity and consistency are important factors in developing an effective policy framework, so it is important to establish a clear and common understanding about purpose and language.

• The first point of reference should be the guidance notes on Structuring and organising  regional and district plans and Writing provisions for regional and district plans. This will help in:
  • clarifying the differences between policies and methods, objectives and environmental results expected
  • ensuring consistency of format and style by using standard phraseology and terminology when writing issues, objectives, policies, methods and environmental results expected.

• Second, establish a set of defined protocols and guidelines for preparing the plan and for policy analysis; where necessary hold workshops to ensure a consistent level of knowledge. For example, Tasman District Council have created protocols on plan preparation, policy analysis and plan drafting.

• Third, have a clear structure for the plan before beginning to write it.

Focusing issues

• Issues must be included in regional policy statements and may be included in regional and district plans.
• An issue must be a clear statement about a matter that needs addressing to achieve the purpose of the RMA, that is, something needing to be resolved to achieve sustainable management.
• Ensure that each issue has been thoroughly investigated, relying on a factual basis as much as possible. This should be combined with an appropriate level of consultation.
• An issue must apply the RMA to the specific circumstances of the district or region, and not just restate the RMA.
• While the cause of the problem should be identified, the issue description should not define the desired outcome or a predetermined strategy for its resolution.

Writing objectives

• Objectives must be included in regional policy statements and regional and district plans.
• Objectives should be an expression of what would resolve the issue, that is, they should describe the end state of the resource or the environmental value being sought.
• They must relate directly to the issue.
• They should be written in a manner that will assist in making future decisions, that is, will they be directly relevant to the assessment of consents?

Writing policies

• Policies must be included in regional policy statements and regional and district plans.
• Policies should describe how a particular objective is to be achieved: that is, a general course of action to be pursued to achieve certain environmental outcomes. A policy will thus need a specific programme of actions to carry it out (ie, should give direction to the methods used).
• Write policies according to the environmental effects that need to be addressed, that is, be capable of an effects-based outcome (recognising though, that there can be process-oriented policies as well as outcome-oriented policies).
• Policies should provide the basis for any zoning used in a plan (ie, for applying area-based management controls).

Writing methods

• A method is a specific course of action taken to implement a policy, that is, methods are the means by which the objective will be achieved. Regulatory methods (eg, rules) must be included in plans, whereas non-regulatory methods do not.
• Don 't make non-regulatory methods too detailed or specific as they will be quickly outdated over 10 years (and also may be ultra vires): they should only give general direction to Council's other areas of operations and policies.
• Commit to realistic non-regulatory methods only, and rely on the strategic plan and annual plan to detail and implement these.
• Avoid stating dates or timeframes as these may change or be simply unrealistic.
• Test each method according to the following criteria:
• Consistent with the policy?
• Realistic?
• Affordable?
• Acceptable to the community?
• Achievable?
• Legal risk considered?

Writing 'environmental results expected '

• Regional policy statements must include the environmental results expected from their implementation, and regional and district plans may include them. Environmental results are expressions of indicators to be used when assessing progress in achieving the plan 's objectives via the stated policies and methods.
• Environmental results should:
• be measurable in some form, or able to be determined in measurable terms (ie, be able to draw on a factual basis to determine progress)
• fit within the timeframe of the plan (ie, 10 years or a shorter period)
• link directly to the monitoring provisions of the plan.

Getting the linkages right

• Ensure there are clear linkages between issues, objectives, policies and methods. For example:
  • The strengths of the linkages can be assessed by evaluating the links in reverse order, back up to the issues and objectives.
  • The proposed objectives and policies should be tested in terms of making decisions on resource consent applications, particularly for discretionary and non-complying activities: will they assist the decision-maker by providing a clear indication of the outcomes sought?
• Cross-referencing can be used to strengthen linkages and support for policies and methods (eg page 9:3 of the Proposed Dunedin City District Plan - PDF 98KB).
• If cross-referencing is used, ensure that there is a proviso in case omissions are made: for example, This policy links to Objective # but other objectives may be relevant. Refer to the rural section of the Waikato District Plan.

Strategic approach

• Strategic planning approaches can overcome many difficulties associated with the use of non-regulatory methods under district plans. These approaches lie outside the district plan, but can be integrated with both the plan and the annual/ strategic planning processes of local authorities, and can put detail and timeframes into general terms as required for a district plan. They can also coordinate a range of non-regulatory methods used by a district plan.
• The Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) prepared under the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA 2002) can provide an integrated method for achieving community goals and environmental outcomes, alongside plans and policy statements. Also, the LGA 2002 requires local authorities to take a sustainable development approach. Therefore, non-RMA plans and programmes are likely to become increasingly important in addressing environmental and resource development issues.

Other tips

• Focus on environmental outcomes when writing issues, objectives and policies - ie be clear about the outcomes being sought before you start writing.
• Involve councillors in the process of developing objectives and policies.
• Focus on positive changes, rather than negative comments.
• Focus on the detailed wording - does it read as intended, or are there other ways of interpreting it?
• Use peer review/audit techniques, and don't simply confine these to planners or lawyers. Get a fresh view to come in, eg invite external parties such as the Ministry for the Environment to workshop the plan.
• Avoid repetition in the policy framework, eg minimise the amount of explanation required.
• Work forward from the issues, using them as problems that need to be resolved, and avoid working back from the rules.

Best practice examples

The following examples illustrate best practice in particular aspects of plan preparation, as described in the guidance note.

Policy Framework - Far North District Plan (Notified 28 April 2000) This policy framework has a good format with clearly defined issues; is concise with a limited number of objectives; and good readibility.

Policy Framework - Rodney District Plan (Notified 28 Nov 2000) (PDF 313KB) The policy framework has a good numbering system; excellent cross-referencing to objectives/policies; includes key words for each issue/policy in margin; includes explanations for each policy and the use of non-regulatory methods.

back to top

RMA provisions

Details of the following provisions are available on the New Zealand Legislation website:

• Section 32 (Consideration of alternatives, benefits and costs)
• Sections 59, 61, 62 (Regional Policy Statements)
• Sections 63, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 70A, 70B (Regional Plans)
• Sections 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 77A-D (District Plans)
• Sections 80-82 (Miscellaneous - combined regional and district documents)
• First Schedule Preparation, change, and review of policy statements and plans.

back to top

Related guidance notes

• Climate change
• Land transport
• Non-residential activities in residential areas
• Notifying proposed plans
• Private plan changes
• Section 32 - Methods of implementation
• Structuring and organising regional and district plans
• Writing provisions for regional and district plans
• Monitoring and reporting one-stop-shop

back to top

Relevant publications

Planning for Sustainability: New Zealand Under the RMA
Published by University of Waikato - June 2004
The findings of the five year research into the quality of New Zealand's first generation plans under the RMA.

Plans Under the RMA (PDF 152 KB)
Published by Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand Inc - September 2002
This paper is Judge Bollard's address to the RMLA conference held in September 2002. The speech discusses the tension that exists between trying to enable sustainability, and reserving an obvious measure of land use certainty for landowners, with regard to district plans. Bollard identifies problems with the implementation of district plans and pinpoints factors which need to be improved.

Drafting District Plans - Is There a Better Way? (PDF 152 KB)
Published by New Zealand Planning Institute - September 2000
This article compares and contrasts the New Zealand and English planning models and suggests a number of improvements to the New Zealand model.

Strategies for Sustainable Management (PDF 310 KB)
Published by New Zealand Planning Institute - June 1998
This article discusses how alternatives to regulatory regional plans may be more appropriate for achieving some resource management objectives and promoting sustainable management. The article also describes the Wanganui Catchment Strategy.

back to top

Current challenges in practice

Problems in identifying issues

A plan must focus on the significant resource management issues in an area: not every issue need be addressed. In order to identify significant issues, planners should draw on factual information on the State of the environment, as well as community aspirations. However, particularly at local authority level, there has been little use of factual information in identifying such issues.

Problems defining issues out of focus

If issues are ill-defined, either by not being correctly targeted or by being poorly expressed, the focus of the objectives and policies can be weakened and undermine the effectiveness of the plan. Problems can arise from:

• Poor factual basis or inadequate consultation
• Too much/too little description to be useful or clear
• Inadequate basis on the purpose and principles of the Act

Issues not prioritised

For the resource management issues identified as significant, a plan should place some priorities on its programme of action. Every council has limited resources, and some issues will require greater emphasis and effort than others to resolve.

Priorities should be based on an assessment of risk: what is the risk of doing nothing or delaying action on an issue, compared with other issues? Few plans to date, however, ascribe priorities to issues.

Poor linkages

It can be difficult to achieve clear logical linkages between issues, objectives, policies, methods and anticipated environmental results: too few weaken the integrity of a plan, while too many make a plan unnecessarily heavy and difficult to use and change. Furthermore, the linkages throughout the policy framework, from issues through to monitoring, can be inconsistent.

Fuzzy objectives

The use of objectives in plans varies: some have only one per issue, while others have many. There is no 'right' approach, so long as the objectives are well focused on the issue(s) in question. However, some Plans use 'fuzzy' language in expressing objectives, either by repeating the language of the Act or by wording them so broadly as to give no firm direction or sense of outcome. This problem is often due to inadequate identification and/or definition of the issues.

The uncertain nature of policies

Policies should give direction and strength to the rest of the plan by specifying courses of action to be used to achieve the desired environmental outcomes. However, uncertainty about the nature of policies has resulted in variation in the specificity and clarity of policies: for example, can policies be targeted at different levels? Can there be sub-policies?

Difficulties in using methods

The effectiveness of policies in achieving environmental outcomes depends on the methods used to implement them. There are many difficulties relating to the use of different methods in plans: for example, do legal, structural and other factors result in an over-dependence on regulatory methods? How can non-regulatory methods be used more effectively, balancing specificity with flexibility(so as to avoid the need for further plan changes)? Is there too much 'backwards analysis ', ie justifying a particular rule by creating objectives and policies around it?

Poor use of 'environmental results expected '

A plan may define the environmental results that are expected from implementing its stated policies and methods. Expected environmental results should be measurable in some form, and useable to assess what progress has been made in achieving the objectives of the plan within its stated timeframe. To date, however, the links between environmental results expected and policies/ methods have not always been clearly and fully formed, particularly in terms of the use of factual information and indicators.

Role of RMA plans in strategic planning

The use and importance of strategic, non-RMA forms of planning are likely to increase through the implementation of the Local Government Act 2002. As this change occurs, the relationship between non-statutory and non-RMA planning processes and documents with the statutory plans under the RMA is likely to create some tensions. For example, the relative slowness, cost and legal nature of making changes to plan in comparison with non-statutory forms of plan-making may result in an increasing amount of planning occurring outside the immediate realm of the RMA. Ultimately, this may have implications for the overall role of plans in environmental management.

back to top

Acknowledgement

This guidance note was prepared by Robert Schofield of Boffa Miskell in August 2001 and was updated to reflect RMAA 2009 by Kirsty Austin of Corydon Consultants in October 2009.