The Government has made changes to the Resource Management Act, including how councils process plan changes. As a result, we’ve paused work on Plan Change 61 (National Planning Standards and other changes) and Plan Change 49 (Waharoa).

These changes come under the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025, which became law on 20 August 2025.

What the changes mean

• These changes do not apply to private plan changes.
• Councils are no longer required to implement the national planning standards – this requirement has been suspended.
• Some plan changes can still go ahead if they meet the automatic exemptions under section 80U – for example, those related to natural hazards.
• Councils have 90 working days to either withdraw affected plan changes or reviews, or apply for an exemption. 
• Councils must publish a public notice within the 90-working-day period to explain what’s happening with each proposed plan or change.

We’ll share more updates on our plan changes once we’ve worked through the new requirements in the legislation.

For more detailed information, please visit Understanding Plan Stop | Ministry for the Environment