Growth on the coast – a more enabling consenting pathway for the coastal environment

The Government’s focus on growth extends to the coastal environment. Here are 6 things you need to know about how the resource management reform will affect development on the coast.

The Government has recently introduced a raft of changes designed to better enable the development of the coastal environment, including in the coastal marine area (CMA). This shift in the coastal consenting environment will continue under the new Planning Act (PA) and the Natural Environment Act (NEA). This article discusses six key things you should know about how resource management reform will affect development in the coastal environment.

1. Immediate changes

The Government has amended four national planning instruments, including the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS), the NPS for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023 (NPS-IB),the NES-Freshwater (NES-F) and the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM), specifically to remove barriers to development, including within the coastal environment.

The purpose of these amendments is to:

• Reduce duplication and conflicting policy language across national instruments.
• Streamline the consenting processes for coastal activities (aquaculture, renewable energy, transmission).
• Align national direction with the Government’s shift to a more “enabling” planning system.

The amendments were introduced to better enable infrastructure, aquaculture and mineral extraction to occur (including within the coastal environment) where there is a functional or operational need to locate them. This softens the effect of strict ‘avoid’ policies under these national directives.

In addition, the NZCPS amendments revised Policy 8 to require consideration of the environmental and socio‑economic benefits of aquaculture, further supporting its provision in appropriate locations.

These amendments form part of the first tranche of revised national direction under the new planning system and were designed to integrate seamlessly with upcoming resource management legislation. We expect these to be carried through into the new system.

2. The “Goals”, National Policy Direction and National Standards

The PA and the NEA create a system that will operate like a funnel, starting with clear goals that narrow what can be considered followed by national instruments, comprising:

• national policy direction (NPD) that particularises the goals; and
• national standards that provide further detailed direction for implementing the NPD and clearer, more standardised direction for decision making and plans.

The PA and NEA include broad system goals that provide some protection for the coastal environment by safeguarding areas of high natural character from inappropriate development, achieving no net loss of indigenous biodiversity, and managing the effects of coastal natural hazards through proportionate, risk-based planning.

The NPD and National Standards under the PA and NEA will replace the NZCPS, NESs, and NPSs. Over the 18 months following the enactment of the PA and NEA, the Government will roll out the NPD and National Standards.

This staged implementation will significantly influence how activities and decision-making processes interact with and impact the coastal environment. While it is reasonable to expect that substantial elements of existing national direction will be carried over, there is no certainty that this will occur.

3. Environmental limits will apply to the coastal environment

The NEA requires the implementation of environmental limits. The purpose of these environmental limits is to protect human health (human health limits) and the life-supporting capacity of the natural environment (ecosystem health limits).

Human health limits (including limits for attributes within coastal waters) will be set in National Standards. Ecosystem health limits (including limits for attributes within coastal waters) must be set by the regional council in its natural environment plan.

What this means for resource management within the coastal environment:

• Activities with high ecological impacts – e.g., sediment-producing works, dredging, reclamation – may face stiffer constraints once limits are fully implemented and there is a risk of exceeding them.
• If environmental limits are exceeded, existing consents may be reviewed to ensure compliance. Following a review, regional consents may be amended or cancelled, to address breaches of environmental limits.

4. Mandatory planning to guide long-term use of the coastal environment

There will be a single combined plan for each region, made up of the Regional Spatial Plan, the Natural Environment Plan, and a Land-use Plan for each district within a specific region.

Regional spatial plans will provide strategic direction over a period of not less than 30 years. It supports a coordinated, integrated approach to infrastructure planning and delivery, including in the coastal environment. The spatial plan will identify constraints on the use and development of land and the coastal marine area, such as natural hazards, highly productive land, significant natural areas, and outstanding natural features and landscapes.

Natural environment plans are the responsibility of regional councils and unitary councils and are intended to regulate the use, protection, and enhancement of natural resources within a region and assist regional councils in carrying out their functions and responsibilities. Natural environment plans may include provisions to address the effects of occupation of the common marine and coastal area and to manage competition for space, including through allocation methods and tendering in relation to certain activities.

Land use plans are the responsibility of regional councils and unitary councils and are intended to regulate the use and development of land. These will apply to the land-based aspects of the coastal environment.

5. New powers for the Minister responsible for aquaculture

Under the new system, the Minister responsible for aquaculture will have powers to recommend to the Governor-General the making of regulations by Order in Council on several matters, including:

• amending provisions in a natural environment plan relating to aquaculture activities in the coastal marine area; and
• amending a natural environment plan to establish rules for the allocation of specified aquaculture-related authorisations.

In some cases, the Minister responsible for aquaculture may also suspend receipt of applications or direct regional councils to process and hear together applications for coastal permits to occupy space for aquaculture activities in the common marine and coastal area.

6. Changes to allocating occupation of coastal marine areas

Under the RMA, section 12 controls restrictions on the use of coastal marine areas. The occupation of these areas is prohibited unless it is provided for in a NES, RCP or other relevant instrument. For example, to erect a wharf structure, is a two-limbed authorisation where:

1. a permit is required to allow the holder to undertake work involved in creating the structure; and
2. a permit is also required to allow the holder to occupy the coastal marine area.

Under the NEB, schedule 3 establishes a new framework for these long term spatial occupations, giving Regional Council’s the option to manage allocation of space between competing users.

Firstly, under this framework a Regional Council may offer ‘authorisations’, by way of an allocation method such as public tender, for activities in common marine and coastal areas.

Creating an allocation method by way of public tender or another specified method, differs to the RMA which operates on a first in first served basis.

If a Regional Council has chosen to include authorisations in its plan, only after a person has obtained an authorisation are they eligible to apply for a coastal permit relating to the space and activity. However, it is worth noting the Bill specifies that a grant of authorisation does not confer a right to the grant of a coastal permit for the relevant space.

These changes are largely reflective of the recommendations in the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) Report on RM reform. The EAG identified issues with the current first-in-first-served model being that it makes Councils reactive in their allocation of resources. They found that Councils do not have to consider future demand for resources and how they will provide for it; a process which is administratively and economically efficient when resources are plentiful. However, when a resource, such as coastal marine areas become fully allocated, new users are unable to access the resource, and it is difficult for Councils to respond to changing circumstances such as climate change. To resolve these shortfalls, the EAG recommended a requirement for Councils to select an allocation method informed by an assessment that determines a resource’s point of scarcity. This will in turn inform how authorisations are allocated and given this, who is then able to apply for a coastal permit.

Want to know more?

Submissions on the Bills are due by 13 February 2026.

If you have any questions about proposed changes to the resource management system and/or how to submit, please contact our specialist Resource Management team

Related articles:

From RMA to a New Era: Transitioning to the Planning Act and Natural Environment Act
The Planning Bill: What Infrastructure Providers Need to Know
Resource management reform: what does it mean for the primary sector?
Resource Management Reforms: Push play on projects or sit tight for now?