Plan changes: Getting your voice heard!
Are you part of a community or special interest group involved in a local or regional resource management process but not sure how to get the best out of it? In this article, Lucy shares some learnings from her recent involvement helping a community group to get their voice heard on a district plan change.
The plan change process may feel like a bit of a song and a dance. But, stay focused and you can make a difference for you and your community.
Supporting the Greytown Tree Advisory Group
Even as a resource management planner, I find it’s not always easy to ‘love’ planning processes. Take plan changes, for instance. The most modest of them can chew up extraordinary amounts of time, money, specialist expertise, and energy - resources to which community and advocacy groups typically do not have easy or unlimited access. When the Greytown Tree Advisory Group (GTAG) approached Planalytics in late 2019 to support its submission on South Wairarapa District Council’s (SWDC) Plan Change 10 (PC10) to update the district’s Notable Tree Register, we were very happy to say ‘yes’.
GTAG works with the Greytown Community Board to increase public awareness about the important contribution of trees to Greytown’s history and heritage. They are a passionate and committed bunch of local people. On this project I worked closely with the group’s convenor, Katie Abbot, a talented native horticulturalist, and Jez Partridge, a professional consultant arborist. GTAG’s concerns with PC10 centred on its use of an adapted or refined tree evaluation process to determine whether trees should be scheduled as Notable. In GTAG’s view, this adaptation fundamentally undermined SWDC’s ability to protect important and significant trees. There were also questions around SWDC’s evaluation in its s32 report.
Having looked at GTAG’s original submission and SWDC’s reports on PC10, we believed there was a planning case to be made. I won’t go into the ins and outs of that case here - you can read my planning evidence and Jez’s technical evidence on the SWDC website - but I will share some of my broader observations about how small not-for-profits can maximise their impact in resource management processes.
A good submission is planning gold
GTAG had written an excellent original submission on PC10. It was clear, concise, and well thought through, and provided GTAG with a solid foundation upon which to proceed into the formal hearings process. And the group had ticked the option to be heard on their submission form, so they were guaranteed a place at the hearings table. In its submission, GTAG walked the reader through each of the key changes it wished to see to PC10 and reasons why, giving SWDC alternative approaches to explore.
Don’t be afraid to meet the council face to face
There are formal and informal opportunities to meet with councils and other submitters prior to a hearing to discuss your submission and explore how your issues may be resolved. GTAG engaged with SWDC very early on in the development of PC10, and again just prior to the hearing. Regardless of whether you reach any consensus or agreement in those meetings with other parties, they can still improve understanding of an issue, strengthen relationships, and add to your ‘story’ of being represented in the process and pursuing your goals. To get the most out of pre-hearing meetings, before heading to a meeting make sure that you are clear:
What the objective or intended outcome of any meeting is;
That somebody (generally the council or an independent facilitator) is responsible for taking the minutes or notes; and
That you know when you will be provided with a copy of the notes.
Seek Advice
Planning processes can be daunting (even for professional planners and lawyers!). Don’t be afraid to approach specialists that may be able to help you understand the issue in an RMA context, clarify your concerns, and determine how you can achieve your outcomes through the process. Some specialist consultancies may be happy to offer advice, support, and representation on a pro bono basis, particularly if the outcomes you are seeking accord with their values. If not, use free online resources to help you build a strategy to pursue your cause or issue, and consider engaging consultants to support specific elements of your case. Great online planning resources include:
The Environment Guide sets out information on planning processes and issues clearly and with great references to case law.
Quality Planning is another solid planning portal designed to promote good practice by sharing knowledge about all aspects of practice under the RMA. It’s aimed at professional planners and related disciplines, but generally the information is presented clearly and comprehensively and will give you a good understanding of the statutory framework within which resource management decisions are made.
There are a number of national and regional advocacy groups tackling environmental issues that you can tap into and learn from. The Environmental Defence Society (EDS), for example, has a long history of helping business, councils, community groups, and iwi to better understand best practice resource management. The Law Society’s website has a section dedicated to advising and supporting community groups. Other agencies such as Forest & Bird and Fish & Game are frequently engaged in plan changes and reviews and provide a range of resources on environmental issues that may prove useful to some groups.
At the local level, you may find individuals or organisations that are happy to share their experience of past planning processes, or with whom you can combine forces to amplify your voice or share the load of pursuing your cause.
Know your audience
It’s too easy for individuals and groups to lose their authentic voice within the obscure formality and legalese of a planning process. To combat this, I recommend visualising the person or people you are trying to persuade or influence when you prepare your original submission on a Plan Change. They are human beings, and appreciate a clear and concise narrative as well as the next person! If you have a concern with a policy or method in a proposed Plan Change, give reasons, and, better still, provide an alternative or a solution that you can justify. If you represent your submission at a Hearing, then clear, strong, well-presented evidence and information will, generally, play well with the decision-makers in front of you.
Acknowledge your wins
Planning processes, particularly plan changes, can go on for months, even years. To cope with the dips in energy and enthusiasm you and your organisation will inevitably experience, take the time to acknowledge and celebrate your achievements. Wrote a fabulous original submission that’s ticked all your organisation’s boxes? Send your team, supporters, and volunteers an email to let them know and thank them for their support. A council planner acknowledged and recommended support of some of the points you raised in your submission? Then you totally deserve a high-five! You resolved an issue in a pre-hearing meeting? Way to go!
If you are a community or special interest group, we would love to hear about your plan change story and what strategies worked for you. Don’t hesitate to get in touch at lucy@planalytics.co.nz.