Operative District Plan

A Note On 'Plan Stop'

What the Central Government’s ‘Plan Stop’ means for the District Plan Review

Central Government have announced that a ‘Plan Stop’ will be put in place this year. The Plan Stop will prevent some plan changes from being progressed if they have not reached the hearing stage.

What the ‘Plan Stop’ means for MDC plan changes

Council recently notified the following plan changes:

Plan Change B: Residential Zone Review
Plan Change E: Feilding Town Centre

Council was also working on these plan changes:

Plan Change A: Rural and Flood Channel Review
Plan Change DES: Designations

Central Government is expected to provide clarity around Plan Stop in August 2025. At that point, a decision will be made about what work will continue.

Got questions?

For more information, check out the following link: Plan Stop Fact Sheet | Beehive.govt.nz (PDF file, 158KB)

Please get in touch with our District Planning Team if you have any questions about these changes either via phone on (06) 323 0000 or email districtplanreview@mdc.govt.nz.

The District Plan has been operative since 1 December 2002. District Plans, which are a legal requirement under the Resource Management Act 1991, place controls on land use and subdivisions. They specify environmental outcomes that Council should aim for.

A district plan contains Objectives, Policies, and Rules which direct Plan-users to these environmental outcomes. Planning maps are also available to show how land is zoned differently across the Manawatū District.

If you still need to refer to our old District Plan, click here to view this District Plan page before the transition to National Planning Standards was completed. NOTE: this link is for information purposes only, it is no longer operative.