Government is consulting on several major reforms that together would change how local government works, how rates are set, and how land use and the natural environment are regulated across New Zealand. We are now preparing submissions and technical advice on key proposals that will have specific impacts on Tasman’s housing, infrastructure and environmental needs.

Our work sits alongside responses from other local authorities and our national representative body, Local Government New Zealand. We strongly encourage residents, businesses, iwi, community organisations, and students to also consider the proposals and have their say.

Hearing a wide range of Tasman perspectives will greatly strengthen both the Council’s submissions and the national conversation on the future of local government.

Council submissions to government draft bills

Our submission on the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bills will cover both. The bills are intended to manage the impacts of natural resource use, protect the environment from harm, enable development, and regulate how land is used.

For Tasman, the new system would reshape how local decisions are made about land use, freshwater, coastal environments, natural hazards, and rural production, with stronger national direction and new limits for environmental health.

As a unitary council is responsible for both regional and district functions, Tasman would need to implement the new natural environment and land-use plans in a way that supports our growing townships, protects highly productive land and sensitive environments, and reflects the role of iwi and local communities in resource management.

Key potential impacts for Tasman include changes to how and where urban growth can occur, how infrastructure and development are sequenced, how farming and other land-based activities are regulated, and how local priorities are expressed within a more centralised national framework.

You can read the proposals for these bills and make a submission to central government here.

Deadline for both is 4.30pm Friday 13 February 2026.

Progress on plan changes

Change 1 to the Tasman Regional Policy Statement and Plan Change 81 to the Tasman Resource Management Plan

Following the Strategy and Policy Committee’s decision on 18 September 2025 to proceed with notification of Change 1 to the Tasman Regional Policy Statement and Plan Change 81 to the Tasman Resource Management Plan, the Council has made a request to the Minister for the Environment for approval to notify the changes using the Streamlined Planning Process (SPP), which would in turn provide an automatic exemption from the Plan Stop directive (introduced in late 2025).

The request was submitted in late September 2025, and in early November, the Minister asked for further information about the changes and the proposed use of the SPP. On approval, we will notify the changes and invite formal submissions.

The proposed changes respond to Tasman’s urgent housing and business land needs and give effect to the Nelson Tasman Future Development Strategy (2022) and the recently adopted Māpua Masterplan (2025).

Plan Change 84 – Freshwater Protections

Tasman District Council is asking the Minister for the Environment to grant an exemption that would allow notification of a time sensitive plan change required to support the Water Conservation Order (WCO) for Te Waikoropupū Springs.

In early September Tasman District Council wrote to the Minister for the Environment requesting an exemption that would allow notification of this plan change.

The Minister requested further information about the plan change in early November. That information was supplied on 14 November, and we are currently waiting to hear whether the Minister will allow the plan change to be notified.

Plan Change 79 – Deferred Zoning

Tasman District Council is progressing Plan Change 79 – Deferred Zoning – a proposed change to the Tasman Resource Management Plan that introduces a new deferred zoning framework to replace the existing method. The plan change is designed to provide clearer, more consistent rules so that deferred zoned land is released for development once infrastructure requirements are in place.

A hearing on Plan Change 79 was held in 2025 and included expert conferencing between some of the key parties. The Hearing Panel is currently finalising the decisions that it will recommend to Council which is expected to consider these recommendations in the first quarter of this year.

Council consultation with Government

The Government has called for consultation on several proposals; we are submitting on two of those.

Consultation on Simplifying Local Government

We are preparing a submission on the Government’s draft Simplifying Local Government proposal, which could significantly change how local and regional decisions are made, how services are delivered, and potentially how Tasman’s voice is heard in future.

As one of a small number of unitary councils in Aotearoa New Zealand, Tasman already combines the functions of a regional council and a territorial authority within a single organisation, with councillors simultaneously exercising both sets of responsibilities.

You can read the proposal and make a submission to central government here.

The deadline is Friday 20 February 2026.

Consultation on the proposed rates model

The Government has begun targeted consultation on a proposed national council rates model that would introduce a capped range for annual rates increases.

Under the proposal, council rates revenue increase would generally be expected to fall within a 2–4 percent per capita band each year, with a hard maximum of 4 percent except in defined exceptional circumstances. We are working to ensure this consultation includes a strong Tasman perspective.

The consultation focuses on how the cap will be designed in legislation, how it will interact with councils’ long term planning and investment needs, and what limited exemptions or override mechanisms might apply.

You can read our previous submissions to central government here: https://www.tasman.govt.nz/my-council/key-document...