Two new laws set to replace the Resource Management Act will have private property rights at their core and “ditch rules that invite every Tom, Dick, and Harry to vexatiously object to peaceful use and development of private property”.
The minister responsible for RMA reform, Chris Bishop, made the announcement at the Resource Management Practitioners conference in New Plymouth, alongside parliamentary under-secretary Simon Court.
Bishop told conference-goers that the RMA was well-intentioned but had not worked
“It’s too hard to build a house. It’s too hard to build roads, water and other infrastructure. It’s too hard to secure the energy we need, including from renewables.
“High compliance costs have not always delivered the environmental outcomes we all want. The RMA protects the environment by resisting growth.”
Bishop said that had made development a problem.
“And that means more people in cars. More kids growing up in emergency motels. An entire generation of New Zealanders who think they will never own a home.”
Bishop said phase three of the RMA reforms would involve the creation of two new acts “with clear and distinct purposes — one to manage environmental effects arising from activities, and another to enable urban development and infrastructure”.
Court said the new system would have three key tasks.
- Unlocking development capacity for housing and business growth
- Enabling delivery of high-quality infrastructure for the future, including doubling renewable energy
- Enabling primary sector growth and development (including aquaculture, forestry, pastoral, horticulture, and mining)
These objectives must be achieved while also:
- Safeguarding the environment and human health
- Adapting to the effects of climate change and reducing the risks from natural hazards
- Improving regulatory quality in the resource management system
- Upholding Treaty of Waitangi settlements and other related arrangements
Court said the main engine driving improvement would the new systems limited scope.
There would be fewer consents. The scope of consents would be limited.
He said it would be rules-based system and embed respect for property rights.
“Putting property rights at the centre of resource management means ditching rules that invite every Tom, Dick, and Harry to vexatiously object to peaceful use and development of private property.
“Rules should only restrict activity with material spillover effects on other people’s enjoyment of their own property, or on the property rights of the wider natural environment that sustains us.”
Court said empowering Kiwis to take a punt and invest time, care, and capital into their land would be how New Zealand opened the door to prosperity.
Waipa District Mayor Susan O’Regan said there were no real surprises in the announcement and the devil would be in the detail.
“The real questions are about the pace of change and what the detail of that change will look like and there for what the impacts would be across the country in varying corners of our districts and towns.”
Taranaki Regional Council chairperson Charlotte Littlewood was concerned about the scrapping of public consultation on the bill.
“Just doing consultation at select committee could undermine having a long-lasting change. We really need to bring the country with us with whatever happens and the RMA to stop this flip-flopping of government policy.”
She also had reservations about setting national directives because it could undermine local decision making.
Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust kaitaki taiao / resource management officer Ataria MacDonald said the planned reforms raised as many questions as answers for Māori.
“And not just for us as a post settlement entity but also our whanaunga, our hapū and iwi that haven’t yet settled as well.”
MacDonald said although Bishop assured his audience Crown obligations under existing Treaty settlements would be upheld and there would be ongoing consultation with Māori it was unclear what that meant.
The rights and interests of iwi and hapū not as yet covered by a settlement were the same as of those who had already settled, she said.
An expert advisory group would be established to work alongside Ministry for the Environment officials and other agencies to develop the core details of the new system.
Key aspects of the new resource management system were expected go to Cabinet for sign-off before the end of 2024, and legislation would be introduced and passed before the next election.
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