Strategic environmental assessment of urban plans in New Zealand: current practice and future directions

This paper aims to understand the practice of SEA in the urban development sector in New Zealand. In New Zealand, SEA has been practiced over the last two decades under the Resource Management Act (RMA) of 1991. Given this legal context, the SEA process of a major urban plan was evaluated against a set of procedural criteria. The results indicate that the SEA has, in general, fulfilled key procedural requirements, albeit with a few shortcomings. The shortcomings include absence of cumulative impacts, inadequate baseline information, inadequate mitigation and monitoring. The possible causes of the shortcomings are explained. This study also explored some key features of SEA practice in New Zealand that may influence SEA practice. Finally, recommendations are made for improvement of SEA practice in New Zealand with future directions. The findings of this study can be useful to SEA for urban planning in New Zealand.