ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how far the Proposed Queenstown Lakes District Plan fitted not only the environmental requirements of the Resource Management Act, but also the community's expectations. Nowhere in the country are the conflicts between resource development and environmental protection so sharply defined and the consequences as far-reaching as in Queenstown Lakes District. The major planning issue confronting the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC, or the council) when it started preparing its plan in 1992 was how to accommodate urban and rural growth without compromising the environmental qualities for which the district was renowned. The Queenstown Lakes District Council's organizational structure changed significantly during the 1990s. The chapter reviews intergovernmental efforts for ensuring production of a plan that dealt effectively with matters of national importance. It is essential to have council and community buy-in and support from central government when developing new policies in an environment which is contested.
