Consultation on provisions in the Hamilton City Operative District Plan

Overview

The Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025 introduced a new power for the Minister for the Environment (now delegated to the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform) to make regulations to remove or modify local plan provisions that negatively impact economic growth, development capacity or employment.

Read more about this regulation-making power.

Investigation into planning provisions within the Hamilton City Operative District Plan

The Government is consulting on the investigation report commissioned by Minister for RMA Reform, Hon Chris Bishop, into various provisions within the Hamilton City Operative District Plan (the Plan), covering:

• mandatory electric vehicle charging infrastructure;
• cycle and micro-mobility parking requirements;
• deep soil planting rules;
• urban tree canopy rules; and
• building design controls.

These changes are being considered under section 360I of the Resource Management Act 1991. Section 360I enables the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Hon Chris Bishop, to recommend to the Governor-General to make regulations that remove or modify local plan provisions where they are found to negatively affect economic growth, development capacity, or employment.

The investigation concluded that these provisions could have some negative impacts on economic growth and identified how the provisions could be modified or removed from the District Plan to alleviate those negative impacts.

The Government is now considering whether to make regulations to modify these provisions in the District Plan.

Read the investigation report.

Why we are consulting 

Before making these regulations, the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform must consult parties who are likely to be affected. The Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport is undertaking this consultation on behalf of the Minister.