Proposed temporary grazing licence
A hearing for the proposed Belmont Regional Park temporary grazing licence will be held on 5 and 7 October 2026 at Greater Wellington offices at 100 Cuba Street. Further information about the upcoming hearing and licence can be found on this page.
On 16 June 2026 Greater Wellington publicly notified a proposed temporary grazing licence at Belmont Regional Park. A correction notice was issued on 15 July 2026 to correct the map of Belmont Regional Park and the area the proposed temporary grazing licence will apply to. Submissions closed on 15 August 2026.
The proposed licence is intended to support interim land management of the reserve while progressing the long-term reduction of grazing over time. The proposed licence area is located within the existing grazing areas of Belmont Regional Park and comprises approximately 735 hectares. The proposed licence term is four years.
The hearing for the Belmont temporary grazing licence will run across two days on 5 and 7 October 2026. The hearing will be held at the Greater Wellington office at 100 Cuba Street, Wellington.
21 submissions on the proposed licence were received. Greater Wellington has nominated Jason Jones as independent person to hear submissions, run the hearing process, and produce a recommendation report on the proposed grazing licence for Greater Wellington to make the final decision.
For the full hearing process details including key dates for material exchange please refer to Minute 1 of the Independent Commissioner.
Hearing Report
The Hearing report, published on 18 September 2026, found here:
Hearing report for the proposed four-year grazing licence for Belmont Regional Park
To present to the Hearing Panel the objections and submissions received in response to the public notification to grant a licence to graze at Belmont Regional Park under section 74(2)… Read more here
date_range Published 18 Sep 2026
Download now (PDF 1 MB) get_appThe appendices not included in the body of the report can be found here:
Appendix 4 - Response to request for information from the Applicant
date_range Published 18 Sep 2026
Download now (PDF 143 KB) get_appAppendix 5 - Objections and submissions on proposed grazing licence
date_range Published 18 Sep 2026
Download now (PDF 19 MB) get_appAppendix 6 - Map of Belmont Regional Park – Proposed Licence Area
date_range Published 18 Sep 2026
Download now (PDF 1.2 MB) get_appIndependent person bio
Jason is an experienced and accredited Independent Commissioner and Chair. He also has more than 20 years’ professional experience in urban and environmental planning roles with both local government and in consultancy. His roles have afforded practical experience with district, regional, unitary and national planning and policy instruments across Aotearoa New Zealand under the Resource Management Act 1991, and with the related provisions and processes under the Wildlife Act 1953, Local Government Act 2002 and Reserves Act 1977. His recent commissioner and planning roles traverse plan-making, climate resilience and natural hazard management projects, wetland restoration projects, urban park redevelopment planning, and a variety of urban development proposals among other topics.
Minutes
Belmont Grazing Licence - Minute 1 of the Independent Commissioner
date_range Published 07 Sep 2026
Download now (PDF 152 KB) get_appThe next steps in the hearing process are:
- The Reporting Officer for Greater Wellington will summarise and advise on the written submissions in their Hearing Report, which will be published on this page and circulated to submitters by 5pm Friday 18 September 2026.
- Submitters who indicated they would like to speak to their written submission will be contacted to confirm their attendance at the hearing by 5pm Wednesday 23 September 2026.
- The Applicant is asked to provide hearing materials including any overview report, evidence, or other material to the hearing administrator by 3pm Friday 25 September 2026.
- Any submitter who wishes to call evidence from a qualified expert must provide the hearing administrator with this material by 3pm Friday 25 September 2026.
- Any submitter who intendeds to have legal representation at the hearing must provide any legal submission to the hearing administrator by 3pm Thursday 1 October 2026.
- Any submitter who intendeds to speak to four pages or more of written material at the hearing must provide a copy of that material to hearing administrator by 3pm Thursday 1 October 2026.
- The independent person will hear submissions and consider all written and oral submissions.
- The independent person will then produce a report containing their recommendations on the proposed grazing licence and provide this to Greater Wellington.
- A final decision on whether to grant the proposed temporary grazing licence for Belmont Regional Park will be made by the Group Manager Environment (for Greater Wellington as the administering body), after giving full consideration to all submissions.
Further information about the hearing process, including how submissions will be used going forward, can be found in this document:
Belmont Grazing Licence Submissions and Hearing Process
date_range Published 31 Aug 2026
Download now (PDF 186 KB) get_appCouncil reports related to recent Belmont grazing decisions can be found here:
Environment Committee 19 June 2025
Environment Committee 19 June 2025 Read more here
date_range Published 16 Jun 2025
Download now (PDF 26 MB) get_appEnvironment and Climate Committee 26 February 2026 Order Paper
Environment and Climate Committee 26 February 2026 Order Paper Read more here
date_range Published 23 Feb 2026
Download now (PDF 30 MB) get_appPublic Slides for the Environment and Climate Committee Workshop 26 March 2026
date_range Published 30 Mar 2026
Download now (PDF 6 MB) get_appRead our Q&A for further details on the proposed temporary grazing licence:
Belmont Regional Park Grazing Licence Renewal Questions and Answers
date_range Published 18 Aug 2026
Download now (PDF 66 KB) get_appOn 16 June 2026 the proposed temporary grazing licence at Belmont Regional Park was notified. A correction notice was notified 15 July 2026 to correct the map showing the areas for the proposed licence.
The proposed licence is intended to support interim land management of the reserve while progressing the long-term reduction of grazing over time.
The proposed licence area is located within the existing grazing areas of Belmont Regional Park and comprises approximately 735 hectares.
The proposed licence term is four years.
The permitted use, being grazing of up to approximately 5,000 stock units, subject to ongoing review through the Annual Operations Plan, which the licensee would be required to prepare and submit in accordance with the licence terms.
The licensee would be required to hold public liability insurance, and forest, rural and fire suppression insurance.
The licence terms will require the licensee to:
- Preventing stock from entering waterways and environmentally sensitive areas;
- Protecting natural and cultural features;
- Controlling pests and weeds; and
- Keeping the licensed area clean and tidy.
The orange outline shows the whole of Belmont Regional Park. Blue areas are grazing areas. Small red patches are farm buildings. Yellow strips are grazed fire breaks.
The Assessment of Environment Effects under Toitū Te Whenua can be found here:
Assessment of Environmental Effects - Belmont Grazing Licence 2026
date_range Published 30 Jul 2026
Download now (PDF 794 KB) get_appGet in touch
- Phone:
- 0800 496 734
- Email:
- info@gw.govt.nz