Hawke's Bay Regional Council aims to have combined all its major regional plans into a single regional plan by 2024 to empower the community voice and keep up to date with changes in central government policy.
A single regional plan named Kotahi will combine and update the existing Regional Policy Statement, Regional Resource Management Plan and Regional Coastal Environment Plan into one and put new policies, planning and technical standards in place.
Regulation and policy group manager Katrina Brunton said the region faces significant environmental challenges and one of the key ways to tackle them in a way where the community feels supported and enabled to make change is through creating regional regulatory plans in partnership with the community.
"These plans are not just statements of aspiration or good intentions, rather they set the policies and rules of what can and can't happen with our region's environment."