Hearings Panel Recommendations

Council has received the recommendation reports on submissions to the Far North Proposed District Plan from the Hearings Panel and are making these available to submitters and the public. These reports set out the Panel’s recommendations and any proposed changes to the plan. Council will consider these recommendations and make final decisions at an Extraordinary Council Meeting on 11 June 2026.

What are the Panel’s recommendation reports?

The Hearings Panel was appointed by Council under the Resource Management Act 1991 to hear submissions and further submissions on the Proposed District Plan.

The Panel’s role was to:

• hear submitters and consider all evidence presented during the hearings process
• evaluate the issues raised in submissions
• make recommendations to Council on whether the Proposed District Plan should be amended

The Panel has prepared a series of recommendation reports (one for each hearing topic), along with appendices that:

• set out recommended text and mapping changes to plan provisions and mapping
• Give reasons for recommended changes

These reports are recommendations only — they are not final decisions and they do not change either the operative or proposed plan.

What happens next?

The process now moves to Council decision-making:

• Council decision meeting
  An Extraordinary Council meeting will be held on 11 June 2026, where Councillors will make decisions on submissions.
• Notification of decisions
  Following Council decisions, submitters will be notified, along with the public of Council’s decisions by the end of June 2026.
• Appeals
  After the notification of decisions there is a 30 working day period for submitters to appeal

Important things to know

• The Panel makes recommendations, but only Council can make final decisions on submissions.
• The decision making process is still under way and to ensure a fair process to all submitters, our Mayor and Councillors cannot discuss any submission or receive any new information.  If you have any questions, please contact the District Plan team on 0800 920 029 or pdp@fndc.govt.nz
• The Proposed District Plan is not yet operative — the current Operative District Plan still applies
• Further information and tools will be released after Council notifies decisions