Have a say on the management of physical and natural resources

Feedback is being sought on the Waikato region’s key resource management issues and some of the options for addressing them, as part of the process for reviewing Environment Waikato’s Regional Policy Statement (RPS).

The ‘Waikato Regional Policy Statement review – Discussion document’ has just been released and is available at www.ew.govt.nz/rpsreview. The discussion document is designed to get feedback to assist the council in the development of policy directions.

An RPS identifies the means by which integrated and sustainable management of a region’s natural and physical resources will be achieved. The first RPS for the Waikato region came into effect in 2000, and it is mandatory for its review to begin by 2010.

The newly released discussion document presents some of the issues and potential approaches that could be included in the review of the RPS. The deadline for public feedback on the discussion document is Friday 17 April 2009. Feedback received will help to shape the draft RPS, planned for release in December 2009. The RPS itself is due to be publicly notified in August 2010.

“It’s important that people have input into the development of the RPS,” Environment Waikato programme manager policy and strategy Blair Dickie said. “It’s an overarching document that provides policy guidance, but it has a direct effect on regional, district and city plans, and can affect things like what people do with their properties.”