Prepared through Variation 1 to the BOP RPS in order to give effect to requirements of NZCPS2010. The focus for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council is to identify and map those areas with High and Outstanding Natural Character, in order to given effect to Policy 13 of the NZCPS. The purpose of identification of areas of high and outstanding natural character is for inclusion of the mapped areas and associated policies into a variation to the Regional Policy Statement 2010. The objective of the assesment of natural character was:to assess the entire coastal environment and identify areas of high and outstanding natural character. In order to identify these areas the entire coastal environment was was assessed and evaluated as being either, Very Low, Low, Moderate, High and Very High, with Outstanding re-evaluating those areas that were Very High. This assessment is in response to the requirements of the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) 2010, which gives effect to Section 6(b) of the Resource Management Act 1991. The assessment of natural character within the region involved following a number of steps as below:Collation of relevant GIS data, technical research, aerial photography. (Refer to Appendicies for relevant data). Desktop analysis to determine the broad coastal sectors and broad natural character attributes based on desktop data. Low level aerial reconnaissance and photography of the entire coastline and islands. Refinement of coastal sectors and identification of outstanding natural character areas and features with high or very high ratings. Project team assessment workshop and notation to determine the degree of natural character for each sector and area.Mapping of boundaries.Drafting of the assessment report.
