On this page
- What is changing?
- What are the new 'out-of-scope' matters?
- What is Mackenzie doing with the District Plan?
- What should applicants and agents do?
- What about applications already lodged?
The Planning Act and Natural Environment Act have now been passed into law and will eventually replace the Resource Management Act.
The Planning Act includes some amendments to the RMA, referred to as transitional consenting provisions, which will come into force on 30 October 2026.
What is changing?
From 30 October 2026, resource consent applications will continue to be processed under an amended Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The key changes include:
- new procedural principles under section 18B, including an emphasis on succinct and plain-language documentation, proportionality when seeking information, and pragmatic approaches to practical solutions;
- new section 104(1A), which identifies matters that must be disregarded when considering certain district land use activities;
- changes to the public notification test, including removal of the special-circumstances test for public notification;
- changes to some Medium Density Residential Standards; and
- new or modified alternative permitted activity pathways.
- For most applications, the consenting process will remain familiar. The important change is identifying whether any of these new requirements affect the particular consent being sought.
What are the new 'out-of-scope' matters?
The amended RMA means Council must disregard specified matters when assessing district land use activities. These include:
For residential activities, except where the matter relates to historic heritage
- area of glazing
- presence or absence of balconies
- outdoor living space
- internal layout
- size of a residential unit
- size of landscaped areas, except in relation to permeability
For other activities or developments
- negative effects on trade competition
- effects on retail distribution
- lack of demand for a project
- whether a project is financially viable
- the type of residents to be housed in a new development
- views from private property
This does not mean that all related effects or District Plan controls disappear. The particular reason for consent, the wording of the relevant provision and the applicable matters of discretion still need to be considered carefully.
Recent sector guidance indicates that the exclusion relating to the size of a residential unit relates to its floor area. Height, setbacks, recession planes and building coverage are not specifically excluded simply because they may influence the size of the dwelling that can be accommodated. Where development affects views from private property, those view effects must be disregarded, while other effects such as shading may still be considered.
What is Mackenzie doing with the District Plan?
We will be reviewing the Operative District Plan to identify rules, matters of control, matters of discretion and assessment criteria that are wholly or partly affected by the new section 104(1A).
The work is intended to help Council apply section 104(1A) and the District Plan consistently during the transitional period, and make it clear to staff, applicants and other plan users which provisions can and cannot be considered.
For now, we are taking a pragmatic approach.
The Planning Act allows the Council to remove affected provisions without going through a formal plan change process. We won’t be removing them from the Plan at this stage, but we may consider doing this later after a settling-in period for implementing the changes to the RMA. Once we have completed our review of the District Plan and identified provisions that are wholly or partly affected by 104(1A) we intend to identify and annotate affected provisions while we work through the changes in practice.
This is deliberate. Some provisions are clearly affected, while others are only partly affected or depend on exactly what effect the provision is addressing. Our methodology recognises that provisions may need different responses, including amendment, deletion or notation, and that some are borderline and require further consideration.
This approach will allow us to:
- see how the new provisions operate on real applications;
- develop a consistent approach to matters of discretion and assessment criteria;
- respond to further national and sector guidance as it develops; and
- avoid removing parts of District Plan provisions that may still have a legitimate consenting function.
What should applicants and agents do?
For applications lodged from 30 October 2026, applicants and agents should continue to identify all relevant consent triggers under the District Plan and any applicable national direction.
Where an application requires resource consent, the assessment should then distinguish between matters Council is permitted to consider and the matters that must now be disregarded under section 104(1A). Applicants should not be required to provide information solely for the purpose of assessing an out-of-scope matter.
S104AA Permitted activity notices
Where a proposal only breaches District Plan provisions relating to matters that are out of scope under section 104(1A), Council may issue a section 104AA notice confirming that the activity is permitted and does not require resource consent. The notice will have a five-year lapse period.
The following processes are being put in place:
- for building consent applications, we are looking at how the notice can be incorporated into the PIM process;
- where a resource consent application is lodged solely for an out-of-scope matter, Council will issue a permitted activity notice instead; and
- a request form will be available on Council’s website.
Where there are other non-compliances that remain within scope, resource consent may still be required for those matters and they will be assessed in the usual way.
What about applications already lodged?
Existing resource consents:
If you already have an application lodged with Council, we recommend talking to the planner processing your application before withdrawing, replacing or making changes to it. Whether changes are needed will depend on the application and the transitional provisions that apply.
Existing building consents:
Some building consents and PIMs may have a s37 certificate requiring resource consent for only rules that become out of scope. If this affects your building consent and you think resource consent is no longer needed, please contact us via planning@mackenzie.govt.nz.
More information
These transitional consenting provisions are new to everyone, and further guidance will continue to develop as they are implemented in practice. Council will continue to consider national guidance, experience from other councils and what we learn through applying the new provisions to real projects.
Our approach may therefore need to be refined over time. We welcome questions and feedback during the transition.
Email enquiries: planning@mackenzie.govt.nz
Government updates: planning.govt.nz