The Government is dropping a proposal that would require councils to meet a national standard when planning for sea level rise.
The standard was meant to streamline planning and provide reliable guidance to local authorities about their future environment.
The Ministry for the Environment had been looking at compelling local authorities to plan for a sea level rise of 50 - 80 centimetres by the end of the century.
It said the national standard could reduce the cost and time to councils of working out sea level changes and might reduce their exposure to lawsuits brought by people who disagreed with their calculations.
The ministry now says it believes local councils are best placed to assess the risk and plan for future sea level rises in their specific areas and has no plans to advance the proposed standard.
