Tony Watkins

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement was the first to be issued under the Resource Management Act. Principle 10 stated that “it is important to maintain biological and physical processes in the coastal environment in as natural a condition as possible, and to recognise their dynamic, complex and interdependent nature.”

The Resource Management Act places a duty on the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Conservation, and every local authority to be satisfied that any objective, policy, rule or other method “is the most appropriate means of exercising the function, having regard to its efficiency and effectiveness relative to other means”. [32 (1) (c) (ii)]

The Resource Management Act seeks to sustain “the potential of natural and physical resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations”. [5 (1) (a)]