Part 8 (sections 166 to 186) of the RMA relates to designations, NoRs and outline plans.
A designation is a provision in the Unitary Plan (district plan section), which gives effect to a NoR for a public work, project or work by a requiring authority. A NoR is the proposal or application for a designation1. Only a requiring authority, which is a Minister of the Crown, local authority or approved network utility operator, can give notice of a requirement.
Once a NoR has been through the statutory process and been confirmed as a designation it can:
- Enable the use of land for a project or work;
- Restrict the use of land, water, subsoil, or airspace where this is necessary for the safe or efficient functioning or operation of such a project or work; and
- Require written approval from the requiring authority before any third party can undertake any activity within a designation that would prevent or hinder a public work, project or work to which it relates.
Before a requiring authority can construct a public work, project or work within a designation, an outline plan must normally be submitted to provide the Council with an opportunity to request any changes. An outline plan generally provides the detail of the public work, project or work, which may not have been available at the time the NoR was prepared and the designation confirmed.
The Unitary Plan includes those existing designations rolled over from the previous district plans “without” or “with” modification and any NoRs given to the Council by a requiring authority, which if confirmed following the statutory process will then each become a designation in the Unitary Plan.
1 Hastings v Auckland City Council [2001] A068/01