Implications of Plan Type and Institutional Structure on the Successful Implementation of Regional Coastal Plans

Many of New Zealand's coastal resources are managed under the Resource Management Act 1991(RMA), by a combination of instruments prepared by the Minister of Conservation, regional and territorial local government. A key instrument is the regional coastal plan (RCP) produced by regional Councils. The effectiveness of RCPs depends not only on how 'good' the plans are, but also on how well they are implemented. Twelve pre-requisite conditions for successful public policy implementation have been identified from a review of recent international literature. These relate to different phases in the policy design, implementation and evaluation cycle; the plan itself and the structures and systems of the implementing agency(ies). Three types of RCPs; from Environment Waikato, ARC Environment and Marlborough District Council are compared with respect to two of these factors. The results do not suggest that there is any one plan type / organisational combination that could be expected to succeed over the others. Rather, it is the degree to which systems have been developed to ameliorate potential impediments to implementation that will have a greater influence on success.