Regional Natural Resources Plan

The purpose of the Regional Natural Resources Plan (RNRP) is to promote the sustainable and integrated management of land and water resources within the Bay of Plenty.

To achieve this, the RNRP has objectives, policies and methods (which include rules) to address issues of use, development and protection of natural resources. The resources covered by the Regional Natural Resources Plan are:

Soil (land)
Rivers and streams
Lakes
Wetlands
Groundwater
Geothermal
Natural Hazards
Air

Latest Update

The following have been included into the RNRP and will become operative on Friday 29 August 2025:

Provisions to control discharges to air of PM10 from unsealed yards in the Mount Maunganui Airshed
Policies AIR-P9 and AIR-P10 as directed by clauses 3.2 and 3.3 of the National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Industrial Process Heat 2023.

Please Note: to support a more sustainable and accessible approach, we no longer distribute hard copy updates of the RNRP. Instructions and replacement pages are available at the links below for those wishing to maintain a hardcopy.

Recent changes to the RNRP

Plan Change 13 (Air Quality) - 293 Unsealed Yards amendments and National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gases from Industrial Process Heat amendments incorporated into RNRP and operative from 29 August 2025.
Draft Plan Change 14 (On-Site Effluent Treatment - OSET) - integrated into the Essential Freshwater Policy Programme
Change 1 (National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry -NESPF) - Incorporated into RNRP and operative from 1 May 2018
Change 2 (Minor National Environmental Standards for Plantation Forestry - NESPF amendment) – Incorporated into RNRP and operative from 10 January 2020
Proposed Plan Change 9 (Region-wide Water Quantity) – withdrawn on 18 February 2020
Plan Change 17 (Awatarariki Fanhead) – incorporated and operative from 29 March 2021
National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management updates - incorporated from 29 March 2021
Plan Change 10 (Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management) - operative from 16 November 2022 deemed operative from 4 May 2021

Download the plan

Full document: Regional Natural Resources Plan

Chapters

Update Record, Amendment page, Seal page and Contents
Chapter 1 - Reader Guide
Chapter 2 - Introduction
Chapter 3 - KT - Kaitiakitanga
Chapter 4 - IM - Integrated Management of Land and Water
Chapter 5 - LM - Land Management
Chapter 6 - DW - Discharges to Water and Land & OSET - On-site Effluent Treatment
Chapter 7 - WQ - Water Quantity and Allocation
Chapter 8 - BW - Beds of Water Bodies
Chapter 9 - WL - Wetlands
Chapter 10 - TH - Tauranga Harbour
Chapter 11 - KM - Kaituna, Maketū and Pongakawa
Chapter 12 - RL - Rotorua Lakes & LR - Lake Rotorua Nutrient Management Programme
Chapter 13 - TW - Tarawera
Chapter 14 - RT - Rangitāiki
Chapter 15 - WT - Whakātane and Tauranga
Chapter 16 - OH - Ōhiwa Harbour and Waiotahe
Chapter 17 - WO - Waioeka and Otara
Chapter 18 - EC - East Coast
Chapter 19 - GR - Geothermal Resources
Chapter 20 - NH - Natural Hazards
Chapter 21 - AQ - Air Quality
Schedules 1 - 14
Definition of Terms and Bibliography
Appendices 1-6

Water quality classification maps

Stopbanks and other flood control structures maps (Rule 45)

The following maps are referred to as part of Rule 45 (Permitted - Damming and Diversion of Flood Waters by Existing Flood Control Structures).

Copies of maps for other areas covered by Stopbanks and Other Flood Control Structure Permitted by Rule 45 are available from Bay of Plenty Regional Council on request.

Erosion hazard zone maps

The following maps form part of the Erosion Hazard Zone, referred to in Section 9.2 of the rules and in the Erosion Hazard Zone definition of the plan.

Statutory acknowledgements

The Ngā Whakaaetanga-ā-Ture ki Te Taiao ā Toi (Statutory Acknowledgements in the Bay of Plenty) is a compendium document to be read as an attachment to and in conjunction with the Operative Regional Natural Resources Plan including proposed regional plan or policy statement, and any variation or change notified by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Check out Statutory Acknowledgements for more information.

The Regional Natural Resources Plan

The Regional Natural Resources Plan is available to view online at Bay of Plenty Regional Council offices, public libraries throughout the Bay of Plenty and service centres of Bay of Plenty's city and district councils.