A plan change is a formal process under the Resource Management Act 1991 to change one or more provisions of the District Plan, including the objectives, policies, rules or zoning of land.

Plan changes can be privately or Council initiated and typically follow a similar process of assessment and public notification before decisions are made.

Private plan change requests are subject to a number of steps under the Resource Management Act 1991. These include:

• Any further information requests
• An assessment to accept, reject, adopt or modify the change (with the applicant's permission)
• The public notification procedure (submissions and further submissions)
• The hearing of submissions
• The formal decision-making.

Depending on the complexity of the change and the issues it addresses, the process can take up to two years. The applicant or any other person party to the plan change can appeal the decision to the Environment Court if they're not satisfied with Council's decision  (or independent commissioner(s) appointed by the Council).

Please see the fees and charges page for information on the cost of a plan change.