3.3 Land and Development
3.3.1 Significant Resource Management Issues
- Water quality degradation (particularly in the middle reaches of the Piako and Waitoa Rivers as analysed by the WRC) is a result of some of the community’s current and historic land use activities which are compromising the sustainable management of the resource.
- In conjunction with the Regional Council it is essential to analyse the degree and nature of unsustainable agricultural practices within the District and to then determine the appropriate actions that both Councils should take within the District Plan and by other mechanisms.
- There is a finite resource of good quality soils and the coverage or occupation of it by structures and impermeable surfaces and other uses of land including peat land farming, may compromise the sustainability of the resource.
- Lack of rehabilitation of land following mining and extraction is a community concern. The Tui Mine Tailings near Te Aroha are a regrettable example of a lack of a restorative plan and the abandonment of a site with contaminated hazardous substances.
- There is an ever increasing number of hazardous substances used both domestically and in the commercial and industrial sectors. Land uses and land use practices are to be promoted to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects of the use of hazardous substances, and manage risks to human safety in the environment, while enabling maximum net benefit to the District to be achieved.
- In the rural working environment, rural activities have the potential to be adversely affected by rural-residential living in that conflict between activities is likely to occur due to incompatibilities between uses. Examples of these include cropping and harvesting, and intensive farming activities. The adverse effects from these activities may conflict with the expectations of those who have gone to the country for a quiet rural lifestyle which may inhibit legitimate rural activities. Rural land use activities now and in the future may be inhibited due to their requiring large areas of land, including buffer space for independent production. The reverse can also be said in that the adverse effects from rural activities are likely to affect rural-residential lifestyles.
| 3.3.2 LAND AND DEVELOPMENT | |||||
| Outcome Sought (Objectives) |
Solutions (Policies) |
Implementation of controls and reasons for chosen methods |
Explanations and Reasons for Objectives and Policies |
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| 1. | SUSTAINABLE ACTIVITIES | ||||
| O1 | To maintain and enhance the District's land resource to enable activities that do not threaten the life supporting capacity of the soil and consequently water and ecosystems. | P1 | To maintain and enhance the soil cover and soil values including: water holding capacity, soil structure and organic components necessary to support a diversity of vegetation. |
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The District Plan's goal is to sustain the land resource for the community’s social and economic well being and that of future generations as per Section 5 of the Act. This will also have positive effects on the District's water resource. In the short term Council can be supportive of the Regional Council's research and monitoring programme and promote the inclusion in that programme of work that is specifically relevant to the District's land resource. Council's policy on conservation planting and Landcare Plans is intended to be supportive of the Regional Council's policy and research concerning the management of land particularly accelerated erosion and its affect on water quality. Sustainable primary production is likely to maintain and enhance the quality of life, the concept of Kaitiakitanga, cultural values of land form and vegetation. Policy 2 aims to manage waste disposal to avoid the generation of contaminant discharges. Significant adverse effects can result from earthworks particularly that associated with mining and quarrying. Restoration Management Plans will be required to ensure that the environment is rehabilitated to a useable form free from contamination or hazards for future generations. Rehabilitation attempts to ensure contaminated products or hazardous substances are dealt with at that time when full knowledge of the situation is available rather than decades later. |
| P2 | To avoid, remedy or mitigate any adverse effects on the intrinsic values of the land from the disposal of solid and liquid wastes and or stormwater. | ||||
| P3 | To avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse effects of land use practices on the land resource in a way that avoids any potential for soil erosion and sedimentation of waterways. | ||||
| SP1 | To liaise with the WRC, interest groups, representative organisations and land users in the provision of information to the public on sustainable rural production in the District including the promotion of Landcare Plans. | ||||
| SP2 | To request of the WRC comprehensive research and monitoring of the District's rivers, erosion and flooding patterns, conservation planting, soil values and drainage schemes and their relationship to current and anticipated rural activities and changing climatic conditions. | ||||
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O2
O3 |
To manage all activities in a manner that
To safeguard the life-supporting capacity of |
P1
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Subdivision, use or development must minimise the coverage of good quality soils. |
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The policy ensures that a landform be created that is in character and is appropriate for the location in which it is located.
Land should not be left open to the elements such as intensive rain or wind which generates erosion. Restoration should be done on a
Sections 5-7 of the Act refer to the life
There is recognition of the desirability by some sectors of the community to live in rural areas. Good management of the housing opportunities |
| P2 | To limit fragmentation of rural land by limiting opportunities for residential or rural-residential subdivision in the Rural zone to conserve the land for the use of future generations. |
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| P3 | To avoid, remedy or mitigate the effects of development through the consideration of the natural and physical resources including roading, drainage, conservation, any hazards, and effects incompatible with other activities. | ||||
| P4 | To ensure that the productive potential of high quality soils in the Rural zone is retained by promoting large lot sizes that provide for a range of productive rural uses. |
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ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL RESULTS
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| 2. | HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES | ||||
| O1 | To avoid, remedy or mitigate the potential for adverse effects on the environment that may result from the use, storage, disposal and transportation of hazardous substances | P1 | Hazardous wastes should be disposed of to authorised disposal sites with appropriate management systems in place | The District Plan hazardous substances objectives, policies and rules reflect the Regional Council’s policy which aims for consistent comprehensive management. The policy ensures that Council is aware of what, where and how hazardous substances are currently used in the District. Council can facilitate preventative and emergency measures by ensuring such information is made available to the NZ Fire Service and Civil Defence. Knowledge of hazardous substances in the District will rationalise Council’s future management strategy in the District Plan. The risks associated with the use of hazardous substances should be clear at the outset to ensure a fair assessment to be given and appropriate on-site management measures put in place. |
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| O2 | To ensure that contaminated sites in the district are managed and/or redeveloped in a manner which avoids, remedies or mitigates any adverse environmental effects. | P2 | The risks associated with the use, storage, disposal and transportation of hazardous substances or contaminated sites must be comprehensively documented to enable Council and the public to manage potential adverse effects. | ||
ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL RESULTS
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