Bay of Plenty's most significant resource management document is now available for public submissions for three months.

Lake Rotorua is one of the main places the Bay of Plenty Regional Council's policy statement is concerned with.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chair John Cronin says the proposed regional policy statement is a step forward in taking an integrated approach to addressing the sustainable management of the region's natural and physical resources.

'The Bay of Plenty is diverse in its geographical features and also in its communities which have different social, economic and cultural needs,” says John.

'Our policy needs to recognise this diversity and ensure it is supported.

'The proposed RPS focuses on principles and encourages actions that are flexible enough to meet varying conditions. We've worked hard to ensure our approach is integrated.

'We're confident the objectives, policies and methods in the document are sufficiently united to promote an environment in which we are proud to live and hand on to future generations, but we want to hear whether that's what our community and stakeholders think.”

Under the Resource Management Act, the regional policy statement is required to identify the significant resource management issues for the Bay of Plenty.

It sets out how resources, including air, freshwater, infrastructure, geothermal, land and soils will be managed in ways that provide for the present without compromising the ability of future generations to provide for their own needs.

Some significant resource management issues facing the region include improving the water quality of the Rotorua Te Arawa lakes, managing urban growth and the way land is used, making water available for horticulture and farming, protecting the region's outstanding natural features and landscapes and the relationship of tangata whenua with the environment.

In developing the proposed statement, the regional council worked with district and city councils, iwi, community and industry stakeholders.

A draft published earlier this year received more than 110 responses. Changes were made to reflect recent national and regional resource management thinking.

The regional council has also released a document that holds all statutory acknowledgements resulting from relevant Treaty of Waitangi settlement legislation in the region. The document is a compendium to the operative Bay of Plenty regional policy statement and other operative regional plans. Submissions are not required on the statutory acknowledgements.

The first Bay of Plenty regional policy statement (1999) remains operative until the second is approved.

Submissions must be with the Regional Council by Tuesday, February 8, 2011.

A summary of submissions is available and further submissions will be called for prior to public hearings being held in July 2011.