The Future of Highly Productive Land Hangs in the Balance
The Future of Highly Productive Land Hangs in the Balance
Monday 21 July, 2025
Package 2 of proposed changes to the national direction instruments under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) focuses on the primary sector as Government seeks to balance social, economic, cultural, and environmental objectives while promoting growth. This article discusses Government’s consultation on proposals to change the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL).
Purpose
When the NPS-HPL came into force in October 2022 its objective was to protect highly productive land for use in land-based primary production. All land in New Zealand is categorised into one of eight classes of Land Use Capability (LUC). The NPS-HPL protects classes LUC 1, 2 and 3 (the most productive land) for land-based primary production. However, in some instances, the NPS-HPL is considered to be too restrictive by preventing housing development on otherwise suitable land.
Key areas of consultation
A key proposal to free up land for development is to remove current rezoning and subdivision restrictions on LUC 3 land, enabling district and city councils to rezone the land for residential development. No changes are proposed to the existing NPS-HPL provisions protecting LUC 1 and 2 land for primary production.
The Government is consulting on the introduction of a new highly productive land category: Special Agricultural Areas (SAA). SAAs would identify key horticultural hubs, such as Pukekohe and Horowhenua, to ensure that the NPS-HPL still applies despite a particular site containing LUC 3 soils. Consultation is also underway on alternative ways to protect areas of primary sector land important for food and fibre production.
Potential consequences
If current NPS-HPL restrictions on LUC 3 land are removed, councils can expect to receive private plan change requests to rezone LUC 3 land for urban development. Of course, councils may wish to initiate their own plan changes to ensure they are providing for the current and future housing needs of their communities. We anticipate that this category of plan change would be exempt from Government’s just-announced proposal to suspend plan changes and reviews pending reform of the RMA.
The Government is also consulting on whether the existing October 2025 deadline for regional councils to notify highly productive land maps should be extended (by two to three years), or simply suspended, until further direction is provided in the reform of the RMA.
Stay tuned for the next article in this series on the proposed amendments to the stock exclusion regulations.
Consultation on the changes proposed within Package 2 close on 27 July 2025. If you have any questions on Government’s proposed amendments to the NPS-HPL or would like assistance with making a submission on the proposal, please contact one of our team below.
