Operative Waikato Regional Policy Statement (October 2000)

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1  Introduction

1.3  The Regional Policy Statement

1.3.3 Interpretation

The Waikato Regional Council (Environment Waikato) recognises that natural and physical resources are and can be used for the social and economic well being of the regional community. This Regional Policy Statement provides a framework for resource use which enables the regional community to achieve its social and economic aspirations. The recognition of social and economic dimensions is provided for through the requirements of sections 5 and 32 of the RMA and by stating the environmental results anticipated from pursuing specific policy directions (section 62 of the RMA).

Where natural resource quality is high, it is the intention of objectives and policies to retain high resource quality. Where resource quality has been degraded through inappropriate use, the quality of such resources is intended to be improved over time. These outcomes are to be achieved within a framework that provides flexibility and allows use. The status of the Region’s natural resources is inherently dynamic, requiring a management regime that allows flexibility while in turn imparting certainty to users.

Overall, it is expected that over the life of the Policy Statement, the quality and in some cases the quantity of natural and physical resources within the Region will increase. Increases in resource quality and/or quantity cannot be expected to be uniform across the Region, as they may vary in response to factors beyond the control of this document, e.g. meteorological events. It is for this reason that many objectives relate to trends in the status of resources. In many cases objectives refer to a net improvement in the quality (or an increase in quantity) of the resource itself or pre-determined valued characteristics of resources. For example:

• 3.4.5: Net improvement of water quality across the Region.
  
• 3.4.8: An increase in the quantity and quality of the Region’s wetlands.

Objectives are intended to be achieved through the application of policies and methods in this document. All consent holders are expected, where practicable, to avoid the adverse effects of their activities, and to remedy or mitigate them if they have not been avoided. "Practicable" for the purposes of section 1.3.3 shall mean: affordable (given the financial implications), technically feasible (given the current state of technical knowledge), and appropriate having regard to the nature and degree of adverse effect on the environment.

Objectives that apply over the entire Region recognise the reality that natural cycles as well as human use will ultimately determine resource quality. It is not the intention of the objectives and policies in this document to promote increases in resource quality in parts of the Region at the expense of resource quality in other areas. Rather, remediation and mitigation is to address adverse effects on resources in a way that relates to those resources affected. Remediation and mitigation are also intended to provide flexibility for resource users.

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