Photo: Stuff / Chris McKeenEnvironment Minister David Parker announced on Sunday new standards to help safeguard some of the country's most productive land from urban sprawl. Cabinet signed off the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) last week. Photo:Under the changes councils will be required to identify, map and manage highly productive land to ensure it's available for primary production. Darby said he wanted to clarify if the Auckland Council now had greater powers to reject private plan changes by developers, which involve prime land, before they can be considered by independent hearings commissioners. Whether a council decides to reject a private plan change upfront depends on the circumstances of the case.

Source: Stuff September 19, 2022 08:09 UTC