3-AD006.00 STATUTORY FRAMEWORK Proposed Waihi North Project OceanaGold New Zealand Limited WSP 14 April 2022 1 OceanaGold New Zealand Limited STATUTORY FRAMEWORK PROPOSED WAIHI NORTH PROJECT 1 OVERVIEW There are statutory and non-statutory plans and policies that provide high level context for the proposed project. An understanding of the outcomes and relevant resource management themes from legislation and strategic documentation provides the framework for considering the likely regional and local social impacts of the Waihi North Project (WNP). A number of relevant documents of interest have been reviewed to identify the aspects that are likely to be most relevant to the community. These include key legislation, regional and local plans and strategy documents; a summary of which is provided in the sections below. 2 STATUTORY MATTERS 2.1 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991 The RMA requires the consideration of actual and potential effects of activities on the environment to inform decision making. Environment is defined in Section 2 of the RMA as including: (a) Ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people and communities, and (b) All natural and physical resources; and (c) Amenity values; and (d) The social, economic, aesthetic, and cultural conditions which affect the matters states in paragraphs (a) to (c) or which are affected by those matters. People and communities, and the social conditions that affect them, as highlighted in (a) and (d) of the definition, are a critical part of the environment that needs to be considered in decision making. The purpose of the RMA is defined in Section 5 as being “to promote sustainable management of natural and physical resources”. According to the RMA, sustainable management refers to “managing the use, development and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which enables people and communities to provide for their social and economic and cultural wellbeing and for their health and safety…”. Section 7(c) of the RMA states that in order to achieve the purpose of the Act, particular regard shall be given to “the maintenance and enhancement of amenity values”. Amenity values, the qualities and characteristics of an area that are meaningful to people and impact on their way of life, is an important consideration in an SIA study.
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