Thursday 25 June 2026
The ORC’s proposed Otago Regional Policy Statement (pORPS) has been made operative – which will provide updated policy direction and simplify and reduce the costs for those making resource consent applications.
ORC’s portfolio co-lead in Policy and Planning, Councillor Kate Wilson, says Council was able to make the pORPS operative as all appeals had been resolved and resulting Court orders made.
“Making the pORPS operative will result in a single operative regional policy statement for Otago.”
“We’re very grateful to the work put in by staff and the many stakeholders involved in resolving the issues through mediation.”
“One of the benefits of a single RPS is that the process obtaining a resource consent will be more straightforward because it will no longer be necessary to assess resource consent applications against both the Otago Regional Policy Statement 2019 (ORPS 2019) and the pORPS.”
At a full meeting of the ORC yesterday (24th) in Dunedin Councillors approved the pORPS, and it will be made operative on 9 July 2026.
“We’re pleased to see the appeals resolved and the community and staff having now having just one document to reference in the decision-making process,” she says.
Cr Wilson says the benefits to making the pORPS operative are likely to continue during the period of transition into the new resource management system reforms being made by Government, with agreed policy direction on a range of topics that will still need to be managed under the new system.
“We’re hopeful that it will be consistent with the direction of RMA reform,” Cr Wilson says.
“This is a significant milestone for the Otago region, as the Regional Policy Statement (RPS) sets the direction for future management of Otago's natural and physical resources,” Cr Wilson says.
The RPS identifies the significant resource management issues for Otago and provides high-level guidance by way of policies and objectives, she says.
Its content covers:
