Regional Soil Plan

Updated 3 August 2020 2:25pm

The Regional Soil Plan became operative on 9 October 2000.

Plan Change 1 to the Regional Soil Plan was made operative on 1 September 2003. The plan change affected the plan's definition of "soil". There were no changes to the rules.

The Plan applies to the whole of the Wellington region, except the coastal marine area. It identifies issues to be addressed so that the effects of soil disturbance and vegetation clearance can be sustainably managed. Objectives, policies, and methods (including rules) have been adopted to address these issues.

You can browse the Soil Plan rules by clicking on the highlighted regional rules link at the left of this screen.

The Plan can be downloaded from the document bar on the right of this screen.

What sort of activities does the Plan cover?

The Regional Soil Plan applies to soil disturbance and vegetation disturbance on erosion prone land only. There are four rules in the Plan. These control:

roading and tracking (unless it is associated with works allowed by a subdivision consent)
disturbing more than 1000 cubic metres of soil clearing more than one hectare of vegetation

Any development or use of land that is not specifically restricted by a rule in the Plan is allowed as of right (unless it is restricted by a rule in a district plan).

Our on-line User Guide can help you find the rules or regulations that apply to activities in the Greater Wellington region.

Plan effectiveness monitoring

The plan effectiveness report for the Regional Soil Plan describes the results of monitoring the effectiveness of the policies and methods, including rules, in the Plan. A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the sidebar on the right side of this page.

Regional plans and Policy Statements

Greater Wellington has produced five regional plans: Regional Coastal Plan, a Regional Freshwater Plan, a Regional Soil Plan, a Regional Air Quality Management Plan and a Regional Plan for Discharges to Land.

Regional Policy Statements must also be prepared for each region. They enable regional councils to provide broad direction and a framework for resource management within their regions. The Greater Wellington Regional Council released a second generation RPS in April 2013.