Source
https://www.gdc.govt.nz/council/tairawhiti-plan/chapters-and-appendices — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan — the D_003 papakāinga-stratum profile (REG_022)
The D_003 council-profile — 4th of 5, verified tier
The operative Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan (Gisborne District Council — a unitary authority: RPS + regional + regional coastal + district plan in one). Whole plan read verbatim via
pdftotext -layout. Gisborne is the sample’s papakāinga stratum — and it produces the campaign’s most enabling Māori-land pathway.
Summary
Gisborne is a moderately enabling rural district with a distinctive, effects-based papakāinga regime. Its rural zones permit a dwelling plus a minor/second unit as of right (Rural Residential: one dwelling + one self-contained unit per ≥1 ha; Rural Lifestyle: two dwellings per site; Rural Productive: one + one additional per ≥8 ha), with further dwellings via subdivision. On-site wastewater is a Permitted activity (like Auckland). Its defining feature is Rule C2.2.6: residential development on Māori land is a permitted activity with no numeric dwelling cap — the most enabling of the three councils profiled, and the clearest illustration yet that NZ’s purpose-built community-density pathway is Māori-land-specific.
Key claims
- claim: "STRUCTURE. The Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan (TRMP) is a single combined UNITARY plan (Regional Policy Statement + regional plan + regional coastal plan + district plan) - Gisborne is a unitary authority. Organised in Parts A (introduction), B (RPS), C (region-wide provisions, C1-C11), D (Area-Based / zone provisions), E (definitions), F (appendices/schedules). Core rule chapters Last Updated 2018 (Part D 30 July 2018; Part C 18 December 2018). The plan is under review (freshwater + land-management changes reported 2024-25)."
source_location: "Parts A-F chapter footers; TRMP structure"
- claim: "RURAL DWELLING DENSITY (Part D rule tables, verbatim). RURAL PRODUCTIVE (Rural P, DD4.6.1B(1)): 'One dwelling unit on a site which contains not less than 8 hectares of land' = Permitted; plus (b) 'One additional dwelling unit either attached to or in close proximity to the permitted dwelling unit... may be erected as long as the additional dwelling unit remains in the same ownership'; (c) 'More than one dwelling unit may be erected on a site if that site is capable of subdivision to provide further sites which would each qualify'; (d) a dwelling on 'any site equal to or greater than 4 hectares, created by subdivision... prior to 20 November 1997'. RURAL RESIDENTIAL (Rural R, DD4.6.1C(1)): 'One dwelling unit, plus one self-contained unit not containing more than two habitable rooms... = Permitted' where 'the site shall contain not less than one hectare of land'. RURAL LIFESTYLE (Rural L, DD4.6.1D(1)): 'Two dwelling units per site' = Permitted (held on the same Certificate of Title); density not greater than one dwelling per half hectare (Nelson road area) / one per hectare (Glenelg area). So Gisborne permits a dwelling PLUS a minor/second unit as of right in the rural-residential zones, and routes further dwellings through subdivision - modestly more enabling than the bare national one-dwelling-per-site default."
source_location: "Part D Rule Tables DD4.6.1B (Rural Productive), DD4.6.1C (Rural Residential), DD4.6.1D (Rural Lifestyle)"
- claim: "PAPAKAINGA / MAORI LAND = the most enabling pathway found (Rule Table C2.2.6, Part C1-4, verbatim). '2.2.6(1) Activities (excluding industrial and commercial...) on Māori land provided they comply with the General Standards' = PERMITTED. There is NO numeric dwelling cap - the permitted rule is EFFECTS-BASED (the General Standards govern noise, recession planes, yards, building length, fencing, parking), not a dwelling count. Papakainga is 'limited to land defined as Māori land under the Māori Land Act (Te Ture Whenua Māori) 1993', is provided 'throughout the district' (region-wide, NOT a zone), and the owners 'may apply either the appropriate zone rules or may choose instead to utilise the provisions of this chapter' (an OPT-IN alternative regime); 'A degree of autonomy is given over to the whanau to protect the amenity within their complex.' So residential development on Māori land is a permitted activity with no dwelling-count ceiling, subject only to amenity standards - MORE enabling than Auckland's capped model (E20 10 permitted/20 RD; H27 3/4+) and than the national NES-Papakainga (10 permitted/11-30 RD/>30 D)."
source_location: "Part C1-4, Rule Table C2.2.6(1); C2.2.1 Introduction; C2.2.4 Policies"
- claim: "ON-SITE WASTEWATER IS PERMITTED (Rule Table C6.2.18, Part C5-8, verbatim). '6.2.18(1) The discharge of contaminants into (but not onto) land from an individual conventional on-site wastewater system (commonly known as a septic tank)' = Permitted where the wastewater originates from 'i. A single dwelling unit; or ii. A Marae; or iii. A public hall...' located on the same property, subject to standards (design flow per Appendix H24 Table 1; discharge rate not exceeding the soil design loading rate; effluent outlet filter; pump-out when sludge occupies two thirds of the tank or at least once every five years; setbacks per Appendix H23). '6.2.18(2) individual ADVANCED on-site wastewater system' = Permitted. So Gisborne, like Auckland (REG_021), PERMITS on-site domestic wastewater - reopening the gate the national wastewater EPS (REG_013) leaves shut. A single dwelling's (or marae's) system is permitted; a larger communal system serving many dwellings would move to a higher activity status (e.g. 6.2.18(10) wetland treatment discharge = Discretionary)."
source_location: "Part C5-8, Rule Table C6.2.18(1) and (2); Appendices H23/H24"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
The papakāinga gradient — three councils, one spine finding
| Council | Papakāinga / Māori-land pathway | Generosity |
|---|---|---|
| QLDC ([[reg_020_qldc-district-plan-2025 | REG_020]]) | None — silent in 1,488 pp |
| Auckland ([[reg_021_auckland-unitary-plan | REG_021]]) | E20: 10 dwellings P / 20 RD · H27 MPZ: 3 P / 4+ RD (numeric caps) |
| Gisborne (REG_022) | C2.2.6: residential on Māori land Permitted, no dwelling cap (effects-based) | 🟢 Most enabling |
The three councils confirm, from independent plans, that NZ’s purpose-built community-density pathway is Māori-land-specific — and Gisborne shows it at its most generous: an opt-in, whanau-autonomous, uncapped permitted-activity regime. General-land rural density, by contrast, remains a per-site + subdivision matter in every case.
Scope boundary (project rule, 2026-07-15) — observed, not accessible
C2.2.6 is recorded strictly as observed regulatory design — the papakāinga regime is, from a regulatory standpoint, the ideal community pathway. The Neobiome project is not papakāinga and is not Māori, and makes no claim to access it. This page documents how the law is shaped, not a route the project asserts for itself.
On-site wastewater — a second council reopening the national gate
Like Auckland, Gisborne’s district rule permits on-site domestic wastewater (conventional septic + advanced systems, per dwelling/marae) where the national wastewater EPS (REG_013) excludes it. Two of the profiled councils now reopen this gate — strengthening the D_003 point that national “the gate stands” statements are council-reopenable.
Research targets
Documents to retrieve
- None new. The final
D_003council (Selwyn/Waimakariri — the Canterbury LWRP wastewater stratum) is tracked under D_003.
Research gaps
- Precise rural subdivision minimum-lot-size rule table not exhaustively transcribed (the dwelling-site thresholds — 8 ha Rural Productive, 1 ha Rural Residential — are verbatim; the standalone subdivision standard is indicative).
- Currency: the TRMP is under review; re-confirm operative status of cited rules before the deliverable relies on them.
Notes
Primary — the operative TRMP chapters, read verbatim. data_quality: verified. Multi-file source: whole operative plan (9 Part PDFs) filed under the page-stem subfolder; sha256 covers the primary raw (Part D). ⚠ Core rule chapters date to 2018 and the plan is under active review — treat cited rules as operative-as-at-2018 pending a currency re-check.
Connections
Links to
Sources (3): REG_013 · REG_020 · REG_021
Decisions (1): D_003: Council profiling — a purposive 5-counc…
Referenced by