It'll be cheaper and faster to get consent for building projects. That's the promise from the Government as it overhauls New Zealand's outdated and "broken" Resource Management Act (RMA).
The RMA is New Zealand's main law for natural resources like air, soil, freshwater and coastal marine areas. It also regulates land use and the provision of infrastructure. It interacts with 17 other pieces of law - so it's complicated, and important.
The changes announced today aim to make it less complicated, and Environment Minister David Parker said the move will improve housing supply, make houses more affordable and give buyers more choices.
"The current system is broken. It takes too long, costs too much and has not adequately provided for development nor protected the environment," Parker said.
"It needs to be faster, cheaper and better. We are doing that, delivering a system that provides greater certainty and simplicity."
The Government estimates it will save $149 million a year in consenting costs.
This is the change that's on the way:
- A new consent system to make the process quicker by making things more standardised.
- The 100 existing RMA plans will reduce to 15 regional plans to keep things simple.
- More environmental protection to make sure we look after our resources and land.
"More than 20 major amendments and thousands of minor ones since the RMA was introduced have only increased complexity," Parker said.
"Everyone is frustrated – environmentalists, developers, councils, farmers, home builders and there's cross-party support for the need to repeal and replace the RMA."
Those 1News spoke to said a problem for years has been councils spending too much time and money making a decision. (Source: 1News)
The new system will be introduced in Parliament today as the Natural and Built Environment Bill and the Spatial Planning Bill.
The reform's third section, the Climate Adaptation Act, will be introduced "later".
"Reform is overdue," Parker said, adding council fees for notified consents more than doubled between 2015 and 2019.
He said costs for mid-sized infrastructure developments rose 70% in the same time frame.
"Off-the-shelf standards for housing and infrastructure projects will remove the need for bespoke specifications for each project, making future Transmission Gully-type projects easier and cheaper to consent," Parker added.
'Once-in-a-generation opportunity'
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said "the shortcomings of the RMA are well known" and described the reform as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity", encouraging rural New Zealanders to submit on the bills as they go through the Select Committee phase.
Housing Minister Megan Woods said the RMA is "well past its use-by date", adding the change will deliver better outcomes for Māori.
And Grant Robertson, who is both Minister of Finance and Minister for Infrastructure, said the shift will boost Aotearoa's economy.
He said Kiwi infrastructure developers currently pay about $1.29 billion a year on consent processes.
'We are deeply sceptical'
Chris Bishop, National's spokesperson for housing, agreed the RMA is broken but said: "National's simple test on RMA reform is whether it will make it easier to get things done ... while pragmatically protecting the environment.
"We will be carefully considering the Bills but we are deeply sceptical that Labour's reforms will meet this test."
The Green Party's environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage was also dubious, saying climate and nature needed more focus.
"Everyone agrees that the current resource management system, designed and tinkered with by successive governments has failed," she said.
"However, what the Government has come up with as a solution also falls short of what is required."
'We've been waiting for this announcement'
Reginald Proffit, chair of the New Zealand Planning Institute's board, said they had "been waiting for this announcement" and "this is our opportunity to get right what hasn't worked as was hoped under the RMA".
NZPI CEO David Curtis said the organisation is "in support of reform, based on the information that has been shared to date".
However, he stressed that "regulatory reforms are important, but the challenge for planners is bridging the gap between policy and practice", adding the NZPI were disappointed the Climate Adaptation Act wasn't introduced today as well.
'We had expected far greater detail'
Property Council New Zealand chief executive Leonie Freeman compared the new planning system to a kind of jigsaw, saying "we have several pieces of the puzzle but no idea what the picture on the front of the box might look like once configured".
"On the one hand, we applaud the government for reviewing a system that was fundamentally broken, but on the other, we had expected far greater detail to be shared given how long has been spent in the development of these proposals.
"These reforms will have a significant impact on our cities and regions for generations to come, making it vital to ask these questions now and get the right expertise around the table, before we find ourselves with a system that merely looks nice on paper."
Alan McDonald of the Employers and Manufacturers Association said the new system should speed things up if it "works as promised".
"Three acts replacing one seems inherently clunky, so implementation and the interaction of the three - which has yet to be fully revealed - will be critical in achieving the goals of a faster more efficient system that also gives better protection for the environment."
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