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Planning for the Aggregate and Quarry Industry Planning for the aggregate and quarry industry

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Growth strategies

Growth strategies are non-statutory documents generally developed at the regional or sub-regional level. They can strongly influence future land use and development, should be informed by infrastructure planning and be linked to the future demand and provision of aggregate resources.

Growth strategies can identify the importance of aggregate resources as part of future growth and help project future aggregate demand by identifying the future location and pattern of development within an area. Although strategies are useful to provide a collaborative approach to planning for aggregate resources, their influence can be limited in RMA decision-making as they are largely non-statutory. Strategies can, however, identify implementation measures that can subsequently be incorporated into regional policy statements and plans to give them more statutory weight. See the key linkages between non-RMA plans and strategies for more information.

Strategies are best developed collaboratively with councils, relevant agencies and key stakeholders such as the aggregate industry (local quarry operators), development representatives, affected landowners, and iwi and community groups. Strategies developed in consultation with the wider community and industry will help to achieve buy-in to the ‘vision’ and the methods proposed to implement and deliver that vision.

An example of a collaborative strategy developed in consultation with the community is Sustainable Futures 30/50 led by Whangarei District Council. This strategy involved a series of public consultation exercises with the community and iwi groups in developing a strategic planning programme to assess and plan for infrastructure requirements over a 30 to 50-year timeframe.

The FutureProof Growth Strategy and Implementation Plan developed by the Hamilton City, Waikato District and Waipa District Councils, Environment Waikato and tāngata whenua provides a good example of a collaborative framework for the management of growth and the provision of infrastructure. The strategy has a 20 to 50-year planning horizon and includes a specific section on mineral resources (8.31). This recognises the need to plan for existing and new sources of aggregate to meet future growth needs while managing conflict with sensitive land uses, and the adverse effects of quarrying.

The strategy contains two actions to address this issue. The first is for Environment Waikato to investigate mineral demand and resource potential in the area, and, if necessary, map it and develop management strategies. The second action is to “ensure rural-residential and urban development avoids mineral resource areas and that conflict between extraction of mineral resources and associated activities has been reduced by ensuring that any sensitive activities are not located adjacent to where mineral resources are being extracted”. Both actions are identified for implementation through the RPS and district plans.

The Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy and Action Plan was developed by Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council, Selwyn District Council, Waimakariri District Council and Transit New Zealand. The strategy identifies areas of growth, future settlement patterns and the location of key infrastructure. It informs projections for the scale and location of aggregate demand in the region, enabling strategic aggregate resources to be identified and protected through RMA planning documents.

The SmartGrowth 50-Year Strategy and Implementation Plan is a strategy that was revised and adopted by Environment Bay of Plenty, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Tauranga City Council in 2007 following consultation with the community and tāngata whenua. SmartGrowth is a cooperative approach to manage growth in the sub-region that sets out future settlement patterns, densities and transport networks that could be used to forecast the location and scale of aggregate demand. The strategy includes an aggregate and other mineral resources section (7.2.7) that recognises similar issues and objectives as the FutureProof example above.

Aggregate demand studies

Environment Canterbury prepared a Regional Gravel Management Report to help with future management of fluvial gravel extraction in the region. The report provides projections of supply of the fluvial gravels in Canterbury and investigates future demand for aggregate in the region based on a number of related drivers. It takes into account forecasts of expenditure on state highways, building consent numbers, economic growth, population changes and industry projections to estimate the annual gravel demands for the region for the next 15 years.

Return to projecting demand for aggregate resources

Regional aggregate resource overview

The Tasman Resource Management Plan provides management methods based on an overview of the aggregate resources in the region. The provisions in the plan relating to aggregate were informed by a strategy consisting of key studies and findings of past aggregate and soils studies. This includes identifying three environments in the district where there is high quality hard rock suitable for aggregate production. These environments are in the eastern ranges, the alluvial plains of particular catchments, and in the beds of two key rivers in the area. Based on the overview of aggregate from the strategy, the plan seeks to increase the uptake of opportunities to extract aggregate from the ranges and limit the future extraction in the fluvial and river-bed environments due to the ecological and physical issues associated with extraction in these environments.

Northland Regional Council, Far North District Council, Whangarei District Council, Ministry for Economic Development (Crown Minerals) and GNS Science have taken a collaborative approach to providing a detailed overview of the mineral resources at the regional level and the potential contribution of these resources to the viability of the region. This exercise produced a mineral resource assessment of the region, including rock and sand aggregate and the potential value and economic impact of those resources. The results were reported in two reports, the Mineral Resource Assessment of the Northland Region and Northland’s Mineral Resources – Potential Economic Impact.

Return to identifying aggregate resources

Policies to identify the regional aggregate resources

The Waikato Regional Policy Statement identifies economic aggregate and mineral resources throughout the region on a map (section 3.14). The indicative map includes both the approximate location of prospective mineral resources and the approximate location of existing significant quarries and mines.

The Auckland Regional Policy Statement states that one of the key methods to implement the mineral objectives and policies (chapter 13) is for the Auckland Regional Council to prepare an evaluation of the location of actual and known potential mineral resources available and the foreseeable demand for mineral resources in the region. The RPS requires that on completion of this evaluation, the Auckland Regional Council will review policies and methods to determine the most appropriate mechanism to implement the information from the process.

Method 51 of the Proposed Wellington RPS identifies the Wellington Regional Council as the lead agency to identify the location of significant resources in the region.

Also see the FutureProof and SmartGrowth growth strategies which include actions to identify aggregate resources to be implemented through RPS and district plans.

Objectives and policies

Objectives and policies are developed in RPS or plans to help address key resource management issues including those relating to access to aggregate resources. Plans must give effect to the policies and objectives of a RPS. Methods, including rules and performance standards, are identified and developed to enable objectives and policies to be achieved. In order for the methods to be used effectively in plans a clear set of objectives and policies is a prerequisite.

For example, the Auckland Regional Policy Statement, contains objectives to ensure mineral extraction activities and mineral deposits valuable for development in the region are not unnecessarily compromised, and that the region’s need for rock material continues to be met. This objective recognises the high economic cost and environmental impact of transporting aggregate resources from outside the region. Policy 13.4.1(2) of the RPS aims to protect existing mineral extraction sites from activities which would unduly limit their operations to the detriment of the regional environment, including its economy. The policy also aims to protect areas of minerals which have the potential to provide cost effectively for the region’s future needs from activities that may compromise them.

The Waikato Regional Policy Statement recognises the importance of mineral resources to the economy and infrastructure of the region. An objective of the RPS is that the extraction of mineral resources is not unnecessarily restricted by sensitive activities, extraction is neither prevented nor protected by unnecessary plan provisions, and adverse environmental effects are managed in an integrated and effects-based way. Policy 3.14.2 looks to address these issues when managing mineral resources by recognising the incompatible nature of activities and only imposing controls necessary to address adverse environmental effects and likely conflicts with incompatible activities. Policy 3.14.3 also recognises the extraction of mineral resources in some areas may be unsuitable. The policy provides for the regional council and district councils to consider both the beneficial and adverse effects of conflicting activities prior to decisions about the use and development of natural and physical resources. The RPS also recognises that in the implementation of the policy, decision-makers may need to differentiate between existing sites and prospective sites. Also see Proposed Change Number 2 – Future Proof to the RPS which introduces an objective, policies and methods to the RPS to give weight to Future Proof objectives in RMA plans and consent decisions.

Policy 60 of the Proposed Wellington RPS directs that particular regard be given to the social, economic, and environmental benefits of using mineral resources within the region. It also requires that particular regard be given to protecting significant mineral resources from incompatible and inappropriate land use alongside. Examples of methods to protect significant mineral resources include the use of buffer areas in which sensitive activities may be restricted, and the use of noise reduction measures and visual screening.

Chapter 14 Disturbance, Deposition and Extraction of the Environment Bay of Plenty’s Regional Coastal Plan provides for sand, shell, shingle and/or mineral extraction within the coastal marine area but only in appropriate locations while avoiding, remedying or mitigating any associated adverse environmental effects. Under policies 14.2.3(h)–(j) this allows for a precautionary approach to sand extraction in the coastal marine area. The policies recognise extraction activities as generally inappropriate in the Habitat Preservation Zone and encourage future extraction to occur in less sensitive areas, such as inactive beach areas.

Objective 16.2.1(7) of the Western Bay Proposed District Plan identifies the efficient use and development of regionally important mineral resources while policy 16.2.2 (15) limits subdivision and development of rural land where it might inhibit the legitimate operation of existing mineral extraction sites or in areas known to contain untapped mineral resources of regional significance.

Objective 18.3.1 of the Whangarei District Plan is to achieve exploration, extraction and processing of minerals in a manner that avoids, remedies or mitigates any adverse effects on the environment and community, and on the relationship of tāngata whenua with their ancestral lands, sites, water, wāhi tapu and other taonga. Policies 18.3.2 and 18.4.2 seek to achieve this through managing conflict with incompatible activities around existing quarries and limit development through subdivision that may compromise or unduly constrain access to existing operations or to potential significant mineral resources.

Zoning

Zoning is a well-established planning tool to divide areas of land into areas to manage particular effects, activities or uses within the area through the application of rules, including performance standards. This includes identifying the different types of activities that may be included in an area under sections 77A and 87A of the RMA, ie, whether it is a permitted, controlled, restricted discretionary, discretionary, non-complying or prohibited activity and the subsequent standards or conditions it must meet.

Zoning can be used to help regional councils carry out their functions, for example, through identifying areas with high ecological or landscape value, but is primarily used by territorial authorities to identify rules that apply to activities within a defined area in district plans.

The development of zones, appropriate activities, rules and standards should take into account those matters discussed in Assessing and providing appropriate access to aggregate resources and the effects likely to be generated from quarrying. This requires consultation with key stakeholders such as affected landowners, industry, tāngata whenua, community groups and the relevant council in the district or region. This may result in different provisions for different quarrying activities in different areas.

Zoning can be used to identify potential aggregate extraction sites and to protect established sites from incompatible or sensitive activities that may lead to reverse sensitivity pressures. Zoning can also be effective to discourage quarries in areas valued for other reasons such as ecology, natural character or amenity.

For example, chapter 18 of Part II of the Tasman Resource Management Plan provides a zone (Residential Activity Restriction Area) around established quarries where residential dwellings are a restricted discretionary activity, and amongst other matters, the Council will consider the extent to which the dwelling may compromise the efficient operation of the quarry.

The Franklin District Plan includes an Aggregate Extraction and Processing Zone (Part 35) where aggregate extraction activities are permitted provided they comply with the specified conditions, standards and terms. Aggregate extraction activities that are not permitted are restricted discretionary activities under rule 35.3. Any consent application for any new aggregate extraction activity is required to be accompanied by management plans including specified information.

The Papakura District Plan includes a specific Quarry Zone (Section 3 Part 6.13) which applies to two areas of established aggregate extraction. The zone includes policies intended to provide for the continuation of quarrying activity and any activity ancillary to the quarrying activity is permitted subject to conditions on environmental controls and the end use of the sites (Section 3 Part 6.13.8.1).

In some instances, it may be necessary to develop a hierarchy of zones or policy areas to provide for the appropriate level of protection of access to aggregate resources, such as:

Refer to the guidance on the plan development process for more detailed information on the key steps to plan development and zoning as a tool in plans for more specific information on the use of zoning under the RMA and relevant case law.

Performance standards

Managing the effects from quarries is generally based on the effects at the boundary of the site and nature of the receiving environment. Including rules with performance standards in plans relating to environmental effects, such as noise, suspended sediment, and dust deposition, is therefore a useful method to outline the acceptable level of effects within a particular area. Rules and performance standards often accompany zones recognising quarrying and its classification under s77A of the RMA (ie, permitted or a controlled, restricted discretionary, and so on). This determines how quarrying is provided for in an area or what effects will be considered in assessing and attaching controls to proposals.

Often there will be some performance standards that quarries cannot meet, such as noise limits of 50dBLAeq. In circumstances where compliance with permitted activity standards is not possible for a proposed quarry, the performance standards in the plans are normally used as a guide and the proposed activity is assessed as a resource consent application under the appropriate activity status in the plan.  Another example is the Mineral Extraction Area of the Whangarei District Plan where the permitted activity standards for noise differ between areas identified as either high or low noise. These noise areas are determined by background noise levels.

See the Writing Provisions in Regional and District Plans for more guidance on developing appropriate performance standards for different types of activities in plans.

Buffer areas on quarry zones

Buffers establish an area around existing quarries or activity zones that prevent activities sensitive to quarrying locating there. Case law provides clear guidance on the use of buffers and that they should only be considered where an activity has taken all reasonable steps to internalise adverse effects. This can involve a quarry purchasing surrounding land to provide a buffer. However, all reasonably practical mitigation measures intended to internalise the effects may still fail to stop those effects from being experienced outside the boundary of the property. Such effects could include traffic noise, dust, noise, vibration and visual effects.

The use of buffers will require the consideration of the significance of the operation and other matters outlined in Assessing and providing appropriate access to aggregate resources, including the effects likely to be generated from quarrying and reasonable measures taken to internalise them.

In considering the use of a buffer, councils must be satisfied the effects from the activity are internalised as far as is reasonable and consider the appropriate distance to mitigate the effects in question against the significance of the quarrying activity. Compliance with buffers means that effects are measured from the notional boundary of the buffer rather than the site. This can raise issues over access to private land to undertake monitoring of effects and compliance.

An example of this approach is in the Special Rules Section of the Tasman Resource Management Plan. The Plan identifies Quarry Areas by Residential Activity Restriction Areas. The combined effect of the rules for these two areas is to mitigate the effects of quarrying in two ways: by regulating quarry activities and by reducing incompatible land uses in the vicinity. In Quarry Areas, quarries are a discretionary activity provided they comply with a number of terms and conditions, whereas the construction of a new dwelling or a residential activity is non-complying. In the Residential Activity Restriction Area, a new residential dwelling is a restricted discretionary activity and must be set back 500 metres from a working quarry. The council also restricts its discretion to a number of conditions including the extent to which the dwelling may individually or cumulatively compromise the efficient use of a Quarry Area or an existing quarry.

The Papakura District Plan includes an Aggregate Resource Protection Zone to provide a buffer around one of the Quarry Zones (Winstones’ Hunua Quarry) identified in the plan. This zone aims to reduce reverse sensitivity effects by discouraging residential, educational and community facilities within the immediate vicinity and by imposing tighter controls on subdivision.

Potential aggregate extraction zone

The approach in the Waikato District Plan Operative in Part is currently the subject of a draft consent memorandum. If agreed by the Court, the provisions for ‘Aggregate Resource Policy Areas’ (ARPA) outlined below will be included in the plan by way of consent order. The provisions will then be applied to specific areas through a plan variation and ARPA will be shown on the planning maps as covering selected parts of the Rural Zone.

The changes will result in there being two approaches to identifying aggregate extraction areas. The first (and existing) approach involves identifying areas of existing or consented aggregate extraction as ‘Aggregate Extraction Protection Policy Areas’ in the plan and providing an external buffer around these areas through restrictions on subdivision and housing development (200 metres for sand and 500 metres for hard rock).

The second (and new) approach involves identifying areas where a combination of factors indicates aggregate extraction could be appropriate in the future as ‘Aggregate Resource Policy Areas’ (ARPA). The plan identifies five criteria that must be met before an area is considered an ARPA, including:

The ARPA policy area does not imply approval in principle for extraction, and aggregate extraction remains a discretionary activity. However, the ARPA seeks to retain access opportunities to aggregate resources by managing the subdivision process. In this instance, subdivision of properties within the Rural Zone and the ARPA, becomes a restricted discretionary activity instead of controlled activity, allowing particular attention to be paid to where new lots (hence, building platforms) are located, for example to ensure they are away from haulage routes.

The identification and management of subdivision in rural/ARPA will help retain access to resources but also help internalise the effects of any future quarrying within a site. This will occur by only applying the ARPA to large lots and then managing subdivision to ensure they do not change significantly in size (eg, a small additional lot may be created but the large lot will not be cut in half). The size of any internal buffers will differ between hard rock and sand, and this should be reflected in the size of land holdings to which this policy applies. Whereas this approach is easier for hard rock resources given their location on hilly areas where existing lots are large and there is little subdivision pressure, it will be more challenging for sand resources some of which are located in more populated areas where smaller titles predominate and subdivision pressures are greater.

Please contact the Waikato District Council if you would like to discuss this approach further.

Setback policies and rules

This approach is similar to a buffer zone but differs in that it uses policies and rules that require minimum setback distances for new activities from established quarries, or consented quarries. This can be a useful method to protect quarries from conflicting activities such as residential development, while also providing appropriate levels of amenity for new activities.

For example, rule 2.4.6(g) of the Waipa District Plan requires that new dwellings should not be constructed closer than 500 metres to a site used for mineral extraction or where a consent has been granted for mineral extraction. 

No complaint covenants

These are an optional mechanism that can be included on a title by a landowner at the time that a property is subdivided or developed. No complaints covenants are used to prevent persons moving into an area from complaining about the adverse effects of a nearby established activity. Such instruments will often include a prohibition on the owner or occupier from:

A resource consent applicant will often propose such a covenant to respond to the concerns of existing operators about their potential to complain about the operator’s effects. A covenant may be either agreed as a condition of the consent under s108 RMA, or by private agreement, and can be registered on the title of the receiving site under s109 of the RMA. If a no complaints covenant is imposed as a condition of consent under s108 of the RMA, it needs to meet the ‘Newbury’ test for validity (see the case law section on no complaints covenants for more information).

To be effective, no complaints covenants need the consent of all parties and cannot be imposed without the applicant’s consent. No complaint covenants also generally need to be used in combination with other methods that mitigate the effects of vibration, such as acoustic insulation and setback distances.

No complaints covenants have been successfully used in a variety of situations where incompatible activities are proposed. For example, the Proposed City of Napier District Plan lists the use of no complaints covenants as a non-regulatory method to avoid reverse sensitivity issues in the city’s Rural Environment (objective 33.2).

Resource consent conditions

The type of activity under s77A of the RMA (permitted, controlled, restricted discretionary, and so on) will determine whether a resource consent is required, and the matters over which the consent authority has reserved discretion and/or may impose conditions.

Consent conditions can be an effective management tool because quarry proposals are site-specific and the effects will vary depending on the type and scale of quarry and the receiving environment. The application assessment process provides an opportunity to focus on the specific attributes of the proposed quarry and to tailor consent conditions accordingly to address adverse effects.

Generally, for both new and expanding quarries, resource consents will be required from both regional councils and territorial authorities. In these situations, each council should be aware of any related consent requirements and consider holding joint meetings and hearings (on notified applications) to ensure environmental effects arising from a proposal are addressed in an integrated manner. Councils should also work together to avoid duplication and conflict in consent conditions and monitoring requirements.

Refer to the Consent processing resource for general guidance on the resource consent process and Resource consent conditions for specific guidance on developing resource consents conditions.

Some examples of consent conditions for specific quarries are included below. Note, however, that consent conditions for quarries will need to be tailored to individual proposals to manage specific effects on the surrounding environment. It is not necessarily appropriate to adopt other examples of consent conditions, although they can clearly form the basis for developing conditions that avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects for any particular proposal.

It is also important to ensure the conditions of a consent can be effectively monitored. Monitoring of consents can also provide information to councils to help them with the ongoing management of aggregate resources and the effects of quarrying. For example, the amount and frequency of gravel being removed from a river bed can help inform future demand levels alongside an assessment of reserves to meet demand, while ensuring the river ecology and system are not adversely effected. See Resource consents, compliance and complaints for further information on monitoring resource consents.

Best practicable option

Often determining the appropriate consent condition is about determining the best practicable option for the quarry. Best practicable option (BPO) is defined in s2 of the RMA.

As it is often not possible to avoid all the adverse effects from quarries, it is often useful to adopt the BPO to mitigate effects. However, the use of BPO should only be limited to where there are unknowns and should be accompanied by a s128 review condition. See Resource consent conditions for more details.

Quarry management plans

Quarry management plans (QMPs) are a key tool to address the site-specific environmental effects from a particular quarry in an integrated and adaptive manner. Quarry operators will generally have some form of QMP to help them in carrying out their day-to-day activities, but these can also be used to manage a range of on-site and off-site environment effects. As QMPs have the advantage of being able to be both adaptive and comprehensive to address environmental effects and achieve compliance, these plans are increasingly being required through RMA plans and as a condition of consent.

It can be useful for RMA plans to include the requirement for a QMP as a performance standard and outline the matters that the plan should contain. For example, Rule 6.13.1.8(d) of the Papakura District Plan requires a management plan as part of a permitted activity. Policy 6.2.3.3A of the Wellington District Plan for the development and site rehabilitation of the Kiwi Point Quarry identifies a QMP as a method and identifies a number of procedures and methods the management plan should contain to address environmental effects.

Some useful matters that a QMP could include are:

QMPs can also provide a useful tool for consulting with neighbours and a useful point of contact. The Three Kings Quarry – Quarry Management Plan was prepared by Winstone Aggregates in consultation with Auckland City Council and the local community. The plan outlines the site operations, methods to manage a range of environmental effects and the objectives for rehabilitation and end use. This process could help the development and agreement of suitable consent conditions across all parties.

QMPs also have the benefit of being monitored reasonably easily, can be tailored to specific circumstances, and have the potential to be self-monitored by the consent holder in accordance with a consent condition.

If the QMP is relied upon to provide details and ensure standards as part of a resource consent are met over time it should:

Examples of actual QMPs for quarries are included below. Please note that QMPs will need to be tailored to suit site-specific factors and the nature and scale of the quarry operations.

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