A designation is a planning tool under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) to protect land for an existing or proposed public work or project and to enable it to be built, used, and maintained. A designation is shown on the planning maps in the council’s district plan.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is a ‘Requiring Authority’ which means it can designate land for its work and activities. NZTA has designations across New Zealand for state highways, rapid transit, cycleways, and shared paths. A designation may be on land already used for transport infrastructure, or it may be on land to be used in the future.
NZTA can carry out any work or activities in designated land if they’re consistent with the stated designation purpose.
Any other party who wishes to do work or activities in the designation, or in a proposed designation, requires written consent from NZTA if the activity would ‘prevent or hinder’ the designated work. This is a requirement of sections 176(1)(b) and 178(2) of the RMA.
You can find out whether your property is subject to an existing or proposed NZTA designation by:
The designation places a restriction on your land. You can continue to use the land as you currently are, but if you want to do any new work or activities in the designated area, or change the use of the land, you may need written consent from NZTA.
A written consent will be needed if your proposed work or activity will or might prevent or hinder the work authorised by the designation.
‘Prevent or hinder’ means something that would prevent the designated public work or project from being built or used as intended, or something that would make it more difficult to build or use.
Examples of work that would not need written consent from NZTA are:
Examples of work and activities that would likely need written consent from NZTA are:
(These are examples only, not exhaustive lists of activities that may or may not require written consent.)
If you’re planning to do any new work or activities in the designated area, or change the use of the land, you should contact us to discuss whether any written consent is needed from NZTA.
You can lodge an enquiry or request for written consent on-line using the application form:
Land use/state highway access application form
This will then be managed through our national system and follow a formal tracking and reporting process.
A request for written consent should include:
Once a request has been received, NZTA would consider things like:
We will review how your proposal may affect existing or future NZTA work in the designation and if needed, we can look at options to avoid or reduce effects on the existing and future transport network.
If written consent is given, NZTA may place conditions on the work. For example, these might require that work is done in accordance with specific plans or within certain timeframes, require changes to proposed site layout or design, or might require that any structures are removed before NZTA carries out its own work in the designation.
Requests for written consent may be declined in some circumstances. If this might occur, we will initially work with you to consider whether changes can be made to address our concerns.
If the request is declined, or if written consent is given but you don’t agree with the conditions, you can appeal to the Environment Court. The Court will then decide whether to confirm or reverse NZTA’s earlier decision.
If the designation impacts on your ability to sell or reasonably use your land, there are also legal provisions which may apply and require the Crown to lease or acquire your land in some circumstances.
Contact the NZTA Environmental Planning team at environmentalplanning@nzta.govt.nz for any further information.
