Decisions Version – Proposed Waitomo District Plan

Waitomo District Council notified its decisions on the Proposed Waitomo District Plan on Thursday, 19 June 2025.

The decisions come after the PDP was publicly notified on 20 October 2022. Council received 58 submissions, covering 1000s of individual submission points.  Hearings were held on 16 and 17 July 2024 and 27 and 28 November 2024.

The independent commissioners prepared their decisions which have now been formally notified. The appeals period closes 30 working days after decisions were notified.

To view the decisions version and decision reports, please follow this link Decisions Version - Proposed Waitomo District Plan

Proposed Waitomo District Plan

On 20 October 2022 Waitomo District Council publicly notified the Proposed Waitomo District Plan for submissions.

You can read a copy of the public notice here (PDF 257 KB).

And the Public Notice of the documents that the Waitomo District Council are proposing to incorporate by reference into the Proposed Waitomo District Plan can be viewed here (PDF 106 KB).

You can read some useful background knowledge and answers to  FAQs that help with queries here.

The district plan is the rule book on how land in the District is used, protected and developed. Council is required by law to review the District Plan every 10 years to ensure it is consistent with national policies and regulation and responds to new challenges (i.e. affordable housing).

The Proposed District Plan (PDP) is a review of the entire Operative District Plan. The review has changed the objectives, policies and rules that apply to your property (or property of interest to you). The PDP also looks a lot different than the existing Plan. That is because the PDP has been written in the National Planning Standards format which applies to all district and regional plans. We encourage you to examine the full plan here, to understand exactly how it will affect you and your community. 

Submissions

The PDP closed for submissions on 23 December 2022. You can view the submissions received here.

Further Submissions

A further submission can only support or oppose an original submission. It cannot extend the scope of an original submission. The RMA specifies that the following persons are able to make a further submission:

• Any person representing a relevant aspect of the public interest
• Ay person that has an interested in the proposed plan greater than the interest the general public has

The period for lodging further submissions closed at 5pm on 28 July 2023.

You can view the further submissions received here.

Online PDP

You can view a copy of the PDP online here.  Or if you would prefer to read a hard copy then you can do that at the Waitomo District Council office, Queen Street, Te Kūiti, or at the Waitomo District library at 28 Taupiri Street, Te Kūiti.

So, If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing [email protected] or call us on 07 878 0800.

What happens after I have lodged my submission

There are a number of steps in the process.  A quick summary of the steps are:

• After submissions have been received, they will be advertised for further submissions. This means people have the opportunity to either support or oppose the submission points you have made
• If you have ticked ‘yes’ in the box that you want to be heard on your submission, then sometime after the close of further submissions you will be invited along to the Council to talk to your submission. Submissions will be heard and decided upon by the District Plan hearings panel.
• After the hearings, decisions will be issued
• If you don’t like the decision, then you can appeal it to the Environment Court.

Some rules have immediate legal effect

While most rules don’t apply until after the decisions on the submissions have been issued, there are some that do.  Section 86B(3) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) states what rules are required to have immediate legal effect.  In order to make things easier these rules are identified in green in the PDP.  The rules relate to:

• Historic Heritage
• Sites and Areas of Significance to Māori
• Ecosystems and Indigenous Biodiversity
• Natural Character of Freshwater Bodies

Feedback

We are keen on getting as much as feedback as we can.  So, If you have any queries or questions, or want to send us written feedback please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing [email protected] or call us on 07 878 0800.