The Otago Regional Council has approved provisions to be made operative and added to the Partially Operative Regional Policy Statement 2019 on March 15 2021. The Otago Regional Council made parts of the proposed Regional Policy Statement operative in January 2019, forming the Partially Operative Regional Policy Statement 2019.

Some proposed provisions were not made operative because they were not finalised at that stage, being subject to ongoing appeals or lacking Environment Court approval.

Because only some parts of the proposed Regional Policy Statement were made operative, parts of the previous Regional Policy Statement for Otago 1998 remained operative.

Most of the remaining proposed provisions are now finalised. Council has elected to make them operative so that the remaining parts of the 1998 RPS can be revoked. This will simplify the regulatory landscape for Local Authorities’ planning and consenting processes.

Some provisions relating to port operations are still under appeal and can’t yet be made operative. This will be done when they are finalised.

The Council, following recommendations from the Minister for the Environment and updated national directions, is currently drafting a new regional policy statement. This document is due for notification in June 2021 and, once operative, will replace the Partially Operative Regional Policy Statement 2019.

Read public notice (Additions to Partially Operative Otago Regional Policy Statement 2019) pdf here.