The council has a monitoring programme, which has been developed to promote integrated management of our natural and physical resources and track indicators of progress and change across Auckland.

Section 35 of the RMA requires the council to monitor:

•the state of the environment

•the efficiency and effectiveness of policies, rules and other methods contained within the Unitary Plan

•the exercise of resource consents.

Monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Unitary Plan will be integrated with the state of the environment monitoring and. will include:

•regular monitoring of resource conditions such as water quality and soil

•identification and understanding of pressures exerted on resources at selected sites across Auckland at regular intervals

•targeted investigations

•information on resource consents, such as resource use, location, and extent of use

•implementation of resource consents.

Findings from monitoring are reported in annual state of the environment report cards.

The council collects evidence based material such as technical reports, publications, and technical papers on a wide variety of subjects. The council also gathers metadata on the natural and physical environment, economics, land use and built environment, and social and cultural and demographic statistics. The council recognises the value of using cultural indicators for monitoring, such as the ‘Cultural Health Index for Streams and Waterways’ developed by the Ministry for the Environment, where appropriate.

Monitoring takes place across Auckland on the built environment, economics, transport, natural environment, heritage, and hazards. This data provides information on trends, opportunities and constraints within Auckland. It is used to help develop strategies, policies and plans and support decision-making.

Plan Review

1. The council may change the Unitary Plan when:

a. plan effectiveness monitoring identifies the need to enhance progress toward achieving anticipated environmental results, or

b. major resource management developments arise such as significant amendments to the RMA or the adoption of national policy statements or national environmental standards that impact on the contents of the Unitary Plan; or

c. the results of new scientific work enhance the Unitary Plan and make plan provisions more certain for resource users; or

d. there is a need to reflect new or changing needs or issues of importance to auckland’s community.

Changes to the regional policy statement provisions in the Unitary Plan can only be initiated by a Minister of the Crown or the council.

Changes to the regional or district plan provisions in the Unitary Plan may be requested by any person. The process used to review and change the Unitary Plan is set out in Schedule 1 of the RMA.