This is the latest in our series of articles about the new planning and environment system introduced by the Planning Act 2026 and the Natural Environment Act 2026.
Designations are one of the key tools carried forward from the Resource Management Act (RMA) into the new system, allowing a public body or infrastructure operator to secure land for a project ahead of (or at the same time as) resource consents and to protect that land from inconsistent uses in the meantime. This article looks at what has changed for designations under the Planning Act and Natural Environment Act: who can hold one, how the process has changed, and what happens to existing designations during the transition.
Requiring authorities are now designating authorities
The first change is one of terminology: a "requiring authority" under the RMA is now a "designating authority" under the Planning Act. More significantly, the pool of eligible bodies has expanded. Local authorities, the Crown, and water services providers remain designating authorities, and the list now also includes approved "core infrastructure operators" and persons approved under a separate public benefit pathway for "other infrastructure".
"Core infrastructure operator" captures similar entities to the RMA's "network utility operator", but extends this further to cover operators such as emergency services. Entities falling within the definition can apply to the Minister for approval as a designating authority for a particular project or operation.
Beyond that list, any person may apply to the Minister to become a designating authority for a project falling within the broader "other infrastructure" category. Together, these changes significantly widen the pool of potential designating authorities: a private operator may now qualify directly, where previously it would have needed to meet the RMA's network utility operator test or rely on a local authority or Minister to designate land on its behalf.
Existing requiring authorities do not need to reapply for designating authority status. An entity that held requiring authority status under the RMA immediately before Royal Assent (or was approved during the transition period which began on 30 October 2026) is automatically treated as a designating authority (in relation to those matters specified in the entity's RMA approval).
Two pathways to a designation
Schedule 5 of the Planning Act sets out two pathways for securing a designation: an updated version of the standard RMA process, and a new pathway through the spatial planning process.
The standard process under Schedule 5
The standard process broadly mirrors the RMA's notice of requirement process: a designating authority gives notice to a territorial authority, the proposal is considered, a recommending authority makes a recommendation, the designating authority decides whether to accept it, any decision may be appealed to the Environment Court, and the confirmed designation is incorporated into the land use plan. Key new features include:
A notice of a proposed designation must include an assessment of the strategic need for the project and designation, unless a regional spatial plan already identifies the project in a consistent location, or the designating authority already holds a sufficient interest in the land
The effects assessment now focuses only on the built environment, assessed against any relevant national instrument, the land use plan, and any proposed land use plans
A recommending authority must now, in most circumstances, have regard to the strategic need for the project and designation in the location, and any significant (or, in limited cases, other) adverse effects on the built environment
As in resource consenting, the recommending authority must disregard effects excluded under section 17, such as a building's internal layout, certain external layout effects within site boundaries, the character, appearance and aesthetic qualities of a uses, development or a building and views from private property
The RMA requirement to consider alternative sites, routes or methods has been removed. Location is now addressed through the strategic need assessment, which considers how necessary the project and designation are to meet the designating authority's objectives for seeking the designation, and whether the proposed general location is appropriate in light of those objectives. In effect, the old "reasonable necessity" and "alternatives" tests have been replaced by a strategic need inquiry, focused only on the designating authority's own stated objectives rather than a comparative assessment of options.
Designations via the spatial plan process – confirmed and indicative options
The second pathway allows a designating authority to secure a designation through the regional spatial plan process (refer to our previous article for more detail on this process).
To use this pathway, a designating authority must obtain approval from a spatial plan committee, which may only accept an application where the project is nationally or regionally significant, has regionally significant benefits, or crosses territorial authority boundaries, and the process is otherwise appropriate. If declined, the designating authority may instead ask the committee to identify an indicative location for a future designation in the draft regional spatial plan.
If accepted, the designating authority prepares a notice of the proposed designation (using the same content requirements as the standard process, including the strategic need and built environment assessments described above) for notification together with the draft regional spatial plan. Once confirmed, the designation is identified in the regional spatial plan and incorporated into the relevant land use plan. A designating authority refused the opportunity to use this pathway may apply to the Planning Tribunal to review that decision.
A second spatial plan pathway and new indicative mapping tool for future designation locations is also available. A spatial plan committee must invite all designating authorities to apply to have the indicative location of future designations included in the draft regional spatial plan before notifying that plan for submissions. If accepted, the indicative location will provide visibility of potential future designation locations but will not constrain underlying land use nor attract land acquisition obligations.
Other features of the designation process
Other notable features include:
A presumption against a public hearing, now held only in limited circumstances
Outline plans becoming "construction project plans" that confirm final design and how adverse construction or operational effects on the built environment will be managed (with designation conditions imposed only where the construction project plan would not be the more appropriate mechanism)
The Environment Court retaining its role on designation appeals, alongside narrower Planning Tribunal review rights for specific procedural decisions, such as refusal of approval to use designated land.
Carrying over existing designations into the new system
Existing designations are not lost in the transition. A designation (or alteration) confirmed and included in a district plan before the specified transition date continues as a designation under the Planning Act (on the same terms and conditions).
If a designation or alteration was confirmed under the RMA but not yet included in a district plan before the transition date, it must be included in an operative (and, if applicable, proposed) land use plan. If there is no operative plan at that point, the designation is treated as already included and cannot be altered by decisions on the proposed plan. The same protection applies to a designation confirmed under the Planning Act before the first land use plan for the area becomes operative.
Designations during the transition period
The process for obtaining a designation does not materially change during the transition period; what changes is timing, and which version of the RMA applies.
A notice of requirement issued before the transition period begins, and not determined by that date, continues to be processed and determined under the RMA as it stood immediately before Royal Assent. A notice of requirement issued during the transition period, and not determined by the specified transition date, continues to be processed and determined under the RMA as it stood when the notice was issued - that is, including the transitional changes to designations discussed in our earlier article here. Pending applications to become a requiring authority are treated the same way.
Designations remain an important tool
Designations remain a central tool for securing land for infrastructure and public works, but the practical experience of using one is changing in several respects. The new system provides considerable opportunity for designating authorities, especially during the preparation of the Regional Spatial Plan. Please contact a member of our environment and resource management team to discuss what the new regime means for your organisation.