In January 2005 changes to the way marine farming (or “aquaculture”) is planned for and managed around New Zealand’s coast came into effect with the Aquaculture Law Reform. As a result of these changes, aquaculture planning and management is now primarily covered by the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), and principal responsibility is in the hands of regional and unitary councils.
Under the new system, aquaculture can only be established within areas specially identified in the regional coastal plan as “Aquaculture Management Areas” (AMAs). Outside of AMAs, aquaculture is a prohibited activity.
The process for establishing AMAs can be initiated in one of 2 ways – either by the council, or by a private individual and/or industry via a private plan change. Under the former, the costs of the process are met by the council, whereas under the latter, the costs are met by the individual or group initiating the private plan change. Whichever approach is taken, when a plan change to establish an AMA is proposed, it must follow a public process before it can be approved and incorporated into the regional coastal plan. Once an AMA is set up, the council can allocate space within it for different aquaculture operations. Each operation will still require resource consent to establish and operate within the AMA.
If the private plan change process is pursued, this may be either “invited” or “normal”. The “invited” process is where the council invites individuals and/or the industry to undertake a private plan change to create a new AMA. If the plan change is successful, the proponent is entitled to a preferential allocation of space within the AMA. The “normal” private plan change process is where the council has not invited proposals, but someone wishes to propose an AMA, in which case they would initiate a private plan change as anyone may do under the RMA. However, where a “normal” private plan change to establish an AMA is successful, the proponent receives no preferential allocation of space within the AMA.
Where the “invited” plan change process is followed, councils may first identify and notify areas where aquaculture will not be allowed. These areas are called “Excluded Areas”. The council can then invite requests for a private plan change proposing AMA’s outside of the excluded areas.
Excluded Areas are essentially “no go” areas for aquaculture and give the industry and the community certainty about where a proposal for an AMA is more likely to succeed. Excluded areas might include places such as navigation lanes, marinas and ports, or areas of high conservation or landscape value.
Excluded Areas only exist for the purposes of the “invited” private plan change process. Once this process is complete, the excluded areas no longer exist, and the council will need to reconsider which areas it may wish to exclude if it decides to invite private plan changes in the future.
In accordance with Section 165W(1) of the Resource Management Act 1991, the Canterbury Regional Council hereby identifies the areas in the Canterbury Coastal Marine Area listed and defined in the table below, as Excluded Areas under that section.
The consequence of this notice is that should the Canterbury Regional Council, in accordance with Section 165Z(1) of the Resource Management Act, invite any person to request a change to a regional coastal plan or a proposed regional coastal plan to establish an aquaculture management area, Section 165X of the Resource Management Act prevents aquaculture management areas from being established in any of the following areas:
All of that area identified in Schedule 5.5.28 of the Canterbury Regional Coastal Environment Plan as Area of Significant Natural Value 12-020, Kaitorete.
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