One Plan Declaration Information.

This website is provided by Fish and Game and EDS to share information with the public about the upcoming legal proceedings over the Horizons One Plan declaration:

Background

On Monday 19 September the Wellington Fish and Game Council and the Environmental Defence Society initiated legal action in the Environment Court against the Manawatu-Wanganui (Horizons) Regional Council over its alleged failure to correctly implement its regional plan (the One Plan).

Fish and Game and EDS have sought a Declaration, under section 310 of the Resource Management Act, on the alleged failure by Horizons to correctly apply the tests for nitrogen leaching within the One Plan when resource consents are applied for by landholders to discharge nitrogen. This declaration is not a full appeal against the plan, which has already been through the court system, it is rather, a narrow inquiry into one aspect of the plan's implementation.

Fish and Game and EDS have tried to engage with Horizons for over a year about the implementation of the One Plan. Going to Court in this instance is more in sorrow than anger, and is an attempt to ensure that Horizons Regional Council implement the One Plan as the Environment Court originally intended it.

Fish and Game and EDS believe that the original court decision provided landowners with certainty, and wants to get back to this position.