In August 2025, the Government introduced new legislation as part of the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025. .

A key part of this legislation is called Plan Stop. Its purpose is to prevent councils from spending time and resources unnecessarily on parts of the plan-making process before the new legislation replacing the Resource Management Act comes take effect.  
 
Plan Stop pauses work on district plan reviews, some Council-initiated plan changes and implementing the national planning standards. The provisions do not apply to private plan changes. 

• Councils no longer need to follow national planning standards — this requirement is on hold. 

• Some plan changes can still go ahead if they qualify for automatic exemptions under section 80U (for example, plan changes related to natural hazards). 

• Councils can apply for an exemption to keep working on a plan change if it meets the criteria in section 80W. .

Under the Plan Stop rules, councils can ask the Minister responsible for Resource Management Reform for permission to keep working on a plan change if it meets the criteria in section 80W of the Resource Management Act.

Here’s what happens:

1. The council sends an exemption application to the Minister.
2. The Ministry for the Environment reviews the application and advises the Minister.
3. The Minister decides whether to: 

• approve the application in full,
• approve part of it, or
• decline it.

4. Once we get the decision, we’ll share an update on this page.

For more details, visit Plan Stop | Ministry for the Environment 

On 8 October 2025, Council decided not to notify Plan Change 61. This is because the Government has paused the requirement for councils to include the National Planning Standards (NPS) in their plans. As a result, the Matamata-Piako District Plan will stay in its current format and won’t be changed to the National Planning Standards format.

We are preparing an exemption application to ask the Minister responsible for Resource Management Reform for approval to start a new plan change: Plan Change 65 - Minor Matters (PC65). This plan change aims to fix several issues in the Matamata-Piako District Plan that have caused inefficiencies, unintended outcomes or challenges in applying the rules. Some of these issues were originally part of PC61. 

We will publish the exemption application on this page once it is submitted and keep you updated on its progress.  

Process – PC49 exemption application

On 8 October 2025, Council agreed to support the preparation and submission of an exemption application for PC49 to the Minister responsible for Resource Management Reform. This plan change aims to improve job opportunities and enable more flexible living options in Waharoa. 

We will publish the exemption application on this page once it’s submitted and keep you updated on its progress.  

Process – PC49 exemption application