Ensuring geothermal in the Bay of Plenty continues to be managed sustainably for current and future generations is at the heart of Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s proposed changes to the Regional Natural Resources Plan (RNRP).

Under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), Regional Councils must review their Regional Natural Resources Plan every 10 years, to ensure it is fit for purpose and addresses current management challenges.

This review of the geothermal section of the Plan (Plan Change 11) will look at how this natural resource is being used and managed.

Namouta Poutasi, Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council General Manager Strategy and Planning, says the release of the draft Plan Change 11 document clearly signals to the community the Regional Council’s preferred management approach when it comes to geothermal.

“Geothermal is a critical part of our region’s economy, culture and heritage. Careful management is essential to ensuring the sustainable use of our region’s unique geothermal systems.

“The release of the draft document today enables communities across the region to provide feedback on our management approach before the formal notification of the Plan Change next year.”

As a part of Plan Change 11, the Regional Council is proposing changes that will help balance the need to preserve the region’s geothermal features (such as geysers), with the sustainable use and development of geothermal across the rohe (region).

Proposed changes include a new policy for the protection of significant geothermal features, allocation limits for Ngā Wai Ariki o Rotorua – the Rotorua Geothermal System, and enabling use in Development Systems such as Kawerau.

The review also includes aligning several different plans that are used to manage geothermal, for example combining the geothermal objectives, policies and rules that are currently in the Regional Natural Resources Plan and the Rotorua Geothermal Regional Plan (RGRP) into a single geothermal chapter in the Regional Natural Resources Plan.

As well as Plan Change 11, the Regional Council has also released a draft Tauranga Geothermal System Management Plan for feedback.

System Management Plans (SMP) are required for systems of high use. In the Bay of Plenty, this includes Ngā Wai Ariki o Rotorua in central Rotorua (SMP adopted April 2024), the Kawerau Geothermal System (SMP under review), and the Tauranga Geothermal System which covers Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty Districts (draft SMP under development).

The Tauranga Geothermal System Management Plan is an operational document that outlines how the Regional Council intends to manage this system.

It will be used to inform the regional plan changes for both the geothermal and freshwater chapters of the Regional Resource Management Plan next year.

This is because the Tauranga Geothermal System is a low temperature system and is the warm parts of the groundwater resource.

This means the use of one resource affects the other and therefore, the two resources must be managed in an integrated way.

Ms Poutasi encourages anyone who wants to give feedback on both Plan Change 11 and the draft Tauranga Geothermal System Management Plan to make a submission.

“Managing our geothermal resource is going to take us all working together. We need to know what the community values, and balance this with the technical information we have, to ensure the sustainable use of this resource for current and future generations.”

The full draft of Plan Change 11, the draft Tauranga System Management Plan, and associated documents, including summaries and explainers, can be found on the Regional Council’s Participate web portal at: participate.boprc.govt.nz

Submissions open today, Thursday 17 October and close Friday 31 January 2025, and can be made participate.boprc.govt.nz

Plan Change 11 and the Tauranga Geothermal System Management Plan both deal with complex and technical topics.

For support with understanding these plans or to discuss them further, the community can contact the Regional Council’s Geothermal team on geothermal@boprc.govt.nz.