1566 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 42

unavoidable adverse effects from subdivision, use or development in the coastal environment.

Policy 3.2.4
Provision should be made to ensure that the cumulative effects of activities, collectively, in the coastal environment are not adverse to a significant degree.

Policy 3.2.5
Subdivision, use and development in the coastal environment should be conditional on the provision of adequate services (particularly the disposal of wastes), and the adverse effects of providing those services should be taken into account when preparing policy statements and plans and when considering applications for resource consents.

Policy 3.2.6
Policy statements and plans should make provision for papakainga housing and marae developments in appropriate places in the coastal environment. “Papakainga housing” means residential occupancy on any ancestral land owned by Maori.

Policy 3.2.7
Policy statements and plans should identify any practicable ways whereby the quality of water in the coastal environment can be improved by altered land management practices, and should encourage the adoption of those practices.

Policy 3.2.8
Provision should be made for the protection of the habitats (in the coastal marine area) of species which are important for commercial, recreational, traditional or cultural purposes.

Policy 3.2.9
Policy statements and plans should contain a requirement that the Maritime Safety Authority and the Hydrographic Office of the Royal New Zealand Navy are to be notified of new structures and works in the coastal marine area at the time permission is given for their construction.

Policy 3.2.10
Policy statements and plans should indicate that when restoration plantings are carried out, preference should be given to the use of indigenous species, with a further preference for the use of local genetic stock.

3.3 Adoption of a Precautionary Approach to Activities with Unknown but Potentially Significant Adverse Effects

Policy 3.3.1
Because there is a relative lack of understanding about coastal processes and the effects of activities on coastal processes, a precautionary approach should be adopted towards proposed activities, particularly those whose effects are as yet unknown or little understood. The provisions of the Act which authorise the classification of activities into those that are permitted, controlled, discretionary, noncomplying or prohibited allow for that approach.

Policy 3.3.2
Local authorities should share information and knowledge gained by them about the coastal environment, particularly where it relates to coastal processes and/or to activities with previously unknown or little known effects.

3.4 Recognition of Natural Hazards and Provision for Avoiding or Mitigating Their Effects

Policy 3.4.1
Local authority policy statements and plans should identify areas in the coastal environment where natural hazards exist.

Policy 3.4.2
Policy statements and plans should recognise the possibility of a rise in sea level, and should identify areas which would as a consequence be subject to erosion or inundation. Natural systems which are a natural defence to erosion and/or inundation should be identified and their integrity protected.

Policy 3.4.3
The ability of natural features such as beaches, sand dunes, mangroves, wetlands and barrier islands, to protect subdivision, use, or development should be recognised and maintained, and where appropriate, steps should be required to enhance that ability.

Policy 3.4.4
In relation to future subdivision, use and development, policy statements and plans should recognise that some natural features may migrate inland as the result of dynamic coastal processes (including sea level rise).

Policy 3.4.5
New subdivision, use and development should be so located and designed that the need for hazard protection works is avoided.

Policy 3.4.6
Where existing subdivision, use or development is threatened by a coastal hazard, coastal protection works should be permitted only where they are the best practicable option for the future. The abandonment or relocation of existing structures should be considered among the options. Where coastal protection works are the best practicable option, they should be located and designed so as to avoid adverse environmental effects to the extent practicable.

3.5 Maintenance and Enhancement of Public Access To and Along the Coastal Marine Area

Policy 3.5.1
In order to recognise the national importance of maintaining public access to and along the coastal marine area, a restriction depriving the public of such access should only be imposed where such a restriction is necessary:

(a) to protect areas of significant indigenous vegetation and/or significant habitats of indigenous fauna;

(b) to protect Maori cultural values;

(c) to protect public health or safety;

(d) to ensure a level of security consistent with the purpose of a resource consent; or

(e) in other exceptional circumstances sufficient to