In 2019 AR & Associates (ARAL) and Resilio Studio was commissioned by the Kaipara District Council (KDC) to provide a holistic Spatial Plan covering the whole of Kaipara District which will flow into a future statutory District Plan review process. The plan needed to coalesce previous and current documents, with a perspective to implement the recommendations in the District Plan review scheduled for June 2021.

The Sub-Regional Spatial Plan provides a framework enabling Kaipara’s service towns, local villages and rural hinterland and coastal settlements to develop over the next 30 years, facilitating growth and sustainable development opportunities associated with population growth and latent tourism potential.

​The Plan is fundamentally a holistic approach to development and management of resources, community social infrastructure, and the identification of adequate infrastructure to improve the future social, economic, cultural and environmental well- being of the various communities of Kaipara. The development of the Plan was based on achieving four objectives:

• Coming to terms with the dynamics, drivers and infrastructure requited to supported connected development and coordinated functions between Kaipara’s settlements, villages and towns
• Management of natural resources
• Developing a sustainable approach to how all rural and coastal land will be managed for cultural, commercial, conservation and community-based activities
• Collaborate with Kaipara Mana Whenua/tāngata whenua and communities to ensure transparency, provide genuine input through the process and have buy-in and ownership of the outcomes

A big part of the process involved a well engaged and timely process was carried out at two different phases, with various communities across the District through face to face engagement sessions to provide valuable feedback. With the interruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, engagement was planned in a proper and safe manner with the remaining communities. Feedback was gained through interviews conducted via online platforms; targeted interviews conducted over the phone as well as online meeting platforms.

Despite the level of complexity of issues that the Kaipara District is faced with, the ARAL planning team have managed to deliver direction and a tool for each of the rural settlements and wider district environments.

The Spatial Plan has been developed in consideration with the national and local planning frameworks. Extensive consideration was given to the outcomes and objectives of relevant National Policy Statements (NPSs), including The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010, National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2014 (amended 2017), National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity 2016 and in turn, the Northland Regional Policy Statement reflects the aforementioned NPSs.