Spatial dimensions of N ew Z ealand's environmental management

N ew Z ealand's regional council boundaries drawn as part of the 1989 local government reforms privilege integrated catchment management. This privilege is now challenged by calls to both fragment and amalgamate councils and centralise decision‐making but with little analytic assessment of the spatial differentiation to support them. The spatial underpinnings of these calls were explored using a case study that assessed the spatial dimensions of environment management. Analysis of the L and E nvironments and R iver E nvironment C lassification databases and councils' planning documents highlights challenges local governments face in applying integrated natural resource management within single purpose jurisdictions and implications for wider sustainable development policy.