Managing road safety and efficiency under the Resource Management Act 1991: The way forward

6. Plan provisions

Print version: Managing road safety and efficiency under the Resource Management Act 1991 (PDF, 259 KB, 63 pages)

• 6.1   Section 32 of the RMA
• 6.2   Section 75 of the RMA
• 6.3   Typical plan issue identification and deficiencies
• 6.3.1   Section 32
• 6.3.2   Issues
• 6.3.3   Objectives
• 6.3.4   Policies
• 6.3.5   Methods
• 6.3.6   Rules
• 6.3.7   Anticipated environmental results
• 6.3.8   Monitoring

One of the key ways to encourage the resource management process to be cost effective is to have as much relevant information included in policy statements and plans as possible (Ministry for the Environment, 1999:67).

Including relevant and meaningful information within plans will assist the community and potential applicants to better understand what is required of them, and will expedite the subsequent assessment by councils of applications for resource consent.

6.1   Section 32 of the RMA

The Ministry for the Environment publication What are the options? A Guide to using section 32 of the RMA is very useful in this regard. It describes in detail how to carry out section 32 analyses for objectives, policies and methods.

There is no need to replicate this information here. The document is readily available from the Ministry for the Environment or its website (www.mfe.govt.nz). It is sufficient to reiterate that the document includes recommended good practice throughout the process of undertaking section 32 analyses. These analyses, which are the duty of local authorities, should evaluate alternative means of achieving a desired end result, including using measures outside of the district plan, such as internal council procedures, education and liaison.

The discussions that follow seek to add to the section 32 best practice process already identified by the Ministry for the Environment. It does so by targeting an appraisal of district plan provisions relating to road safety and efficiency. The general recognition should be that land uses adjacent to road networks can impact on the safety and efficiency of roads.

6.2   Section 75 of the RMA

Section 75 of the RMA requires each district plan to include:

• significant resource management issues of the district
• objectives to be achieved by the plan
• policies in regard to the issues and objectives, and associated explanations
• methods to implement the policies, including any rules
• principal reasons for adopting the objectives, policies and methods
• information to be submitted with resource consent applications
• environmental results anticipated from the implementation of the policies and methods
• processes for dealing with cross-boundary issues
• procedures for reviewing matters and monitoring the effectiveness of the plan in achieving its objectives and policies.

The issues, identified in section 5 of this report, are assessed below in terms of these plan divisions. These divisions are itemised and briefly explained.

• Issues – find out if resource management issues are of significance.
• Objectives – seek to resolve the issue by stating desired environmental outcomes and determine the necessity of its inclusion in the district plan.
• Policies – take action steps that have a realistic chance of achieving the objectives.
• Methods – evaluate alternative options with an open mind; determine those that are appropriate, necessary and effective in achieving the objective; identify significant benefits/costs; and give reasons for method adoption.
• Rules – support the objectives and policies.
• Anticipated results – state the anticipated environmental results that are specific and tangible, and provide a basis for subsequent monitoring.
• Monitoring/review – state how the results will be monitored and used.

This guideline does not try to emulate a section 32 analysis for the issues it discusses. Instead, it identifies important elements that will require inclusion in any section 32 assessment.

6.3   Typical plan issue identification and deficiencies

With respect to road safety and efficiency, a review of a sample of district plans revealed the following typical strategies and deficiencies.

6.3.1   Section 32

These are often not done and where they are done, they:

• vary greatly in quality
• are not always clear in how certain provisions are tied to specific outcomes or monitoring provisions.

6.3.2   Issues

The district plans all identify some issues relating to road and transportation matters. Typical issues identified include:

• traffic access effects on flow and the subsequent effects on traffic safety
• the effects of land use on the efficiency and safety of the transport network
• the need to protect infrastructure from the effects of other activities
• that the roading network has a variety of users.

There was general recognition that:

• land use adjacent to roading networks impact on the safety and efficiency of those networks
• effects of traffic access are two sided and are generated when there are a variety of users who may differ in the way they each view and/or use the roading network, which may cause conflict.

6.3.3   Objectives

The district plans contain some objectives in relation to the identified issues of roading and transportation, typically focusing on:

• roading networks that safely and efficiently provide for different users
• minimising conflicts between land uses and the roading network
• ensuring the effects of parking on the road network are minimised
• maintaining safe and efficient access
• the location of access points to avoid affecting the safe and efficient functioning of the road.

6.3.4   Policies

The policies in the district plans tend to paraphrase the RMA and may:

• have the appearance of rules
• define time limits
• mention the data sources that will be used to assess the success of the policy
• be subject to political influences related to whether policies are relevant, such as costs, practicality and community needs and/or priorities.

6.3.5   Methods

The methods typically used in the district plans are tried and true that use clear and precise standards to determine whether an activity is permitted or not, ie:

• zone rules
• roading hierarchy.

The second most frequent methods include:

• financial contributions
• designations for existing and/or new roads
• performance and engineering standards.

The next most common methods include:

• council works programmes
• transport strategies
• district-wide rules
• liaison
• education material
• use of resource consent applications
• advocacy and promotion.

Less common methods typically rely on the provisions in other documents outside of the district plan, such as:

• structure plans
• development manuals
• specific investigations
• road assessment and maintenance management (RAMM) assessments
• traffic impact studies
• specified documents outside of the plan process, such as Transit’s standards and bylaws, and Land Transport NZ guidelines
• local bylaws.

6.3.6   Rules

Rules in the district plans typically cover six main areas:

1. performance standards for vehicle crossings, including sight visibility
2. loading areas
3. distance of vehicle crossings from an intersection
4. access off a lesser-ranked road where access onto two roads is available
5. car parking standards
6. financial and development contributions relating to safety and efficiency.

Typically, the district plans had no rules directly addressing the control of activities that generate major traffic movements. However, some:

• specified that ‘major traffic activities’ fronting highways require resource consent
• referred to a particular section of the plan, but connection between the issues, objectives, policies and the rules may be lost.

6.3.7   Anticipated environmental results

The district plans typically mention road/traffic safety but:

• do not carry on to specific monitoring provisions
• tend to be non-specific in terms of what they relate to and not provide a satisfactory measurable conclusion to an issue.

6.3.8   Monitoring

The district plans typically did not provide for monitoring, but monitoring may:

• refer to statistics, such as the number of motor vehicle accidents, to determine whether the objectives, policies and methods are having any significant effect or loss in the level of service
• be undertaken in relation to traffic management and road safety, but not specified in the plan.

 

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Page created: 26 September 2008