Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan At the central government level, the Minister for the Environment is responsible for preparing National Policy Statements and National Environment Standards. Both are optional and as yet none have been prepared. National Policy Statements will guide local government decision making while National Environmental Standards, would through regulations, cover matters requiring a nation-wide approach such as pollution, ballast water, agricultural spray drift or air quality for example. The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement is mandatory and was prepared by the Minister of Conservation. This document sets up the framework for managing New Zealand’s coastal environment within which local government prepares regional coastal plans. The Marlborough Regional Policy Statement which is mandatory, provides an overview of the significant resource management issues of the region and contains the objectives, policies and methods to achieve integrated management of the natural and physical resources of the whole region. 1.6 Relationship With Other Legislation In preparing or changing regional, coastal and district plans, sections 66(2) and 74(2) of the Act require that the Council must have regard to the following: • Management plans and strategies prepared under other Acts, in particular Conservation Management Strategies (Conservation Act 1987), Land Transport Strategies (Transit New Zealand Act 1989), Pest Management Strategies (Biosecurity Act 1993), and Reserve Management Plans (Reserves Act 1977); • Relevant planning documents recognised by an iwi authority affected by this Resource Management Plan; • Regulations relating to the conservation or management of taipure or fisheries; • The Crown’s interests in land of the Crown in the coastal marine area; • Relevant entries in the Historic Places Register; • Regulations made under the act to the extent that their content has a bearing on resource management issues of the region; and • The extent to which this Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan needs to be consistent with policy statements and plans of adjacent regional councils and territorial authorities. • Nelson/Marlborough Fish and Game Council. 1.7 Structure of Volume One Sections 67 and 75 of the Act set out the matters to be addressed in Regional and District Plans. The matters dealt with in the greater part of Volume One of the Marlborough Sounds Resource Management Plan are shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.2. This Chapter (Introduction) also contains sections on information requirements for resource consent applications, cross boundary issues and monitoring. 1 - 4