Plan Change 6AA amends the date at which certain Water Plan rules controlling discharge contaminant concentrations and rules on nitrogen leaching come into force from 1 April 2020 to 1 April 2026, by which time a new Land and Water Regional Plan will supersede the current water plan rules.

Plan Change 6AA allows time for more robust changes to be made to the Water Plan that will support best practise for water quality. The Water Plan provisions affected by the plan change proposal are:

• Policy 7.D.2;
• Rule 12.C.1.1;
• Rule 12.C.1.1A;
• Rule 12.C.1.3; and
• Schedule 16A

In the meantime, the proposed Water Quality Plan Changes to the Waste and Water Plan (formerly the “Omnibus” plan change), will introduce new provisions to address water quality in urban and rural areas.

The Minister for the Environment has called the Water Quality Plan Changes in, and they will be referred directly to the Environment Court after notification by the Environmental Protection Authority.

The decision on Plan Change 6AA was notified in February. Following the appeal period, where no appeals were received, Councillors approved it to be operative from 16 May.

The plan change’s operative date is being publicly notified in today’s Otago Daily Times (9 May).

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