New Resource Management Act Replacement Takes Shape

Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say.

"The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. In the last two decades New Zealand has experienced higher house price growth than any other developed economy, many environmental metrics have declined, and our infrastructure deficit has got worse," Mr Bishop says.

"The RMA has hindered economic growth and productivity, whilst failing to improve the environment. The RMA consenting system is an active barrierier against New Zealand achieving its climate goals - a recent report by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission showed that NZ is on track to miss between 11 and 15 per cent of emission reductions from energy and transport by 2050 due to consenting delays.

"In this RMA Reform programme, we've repealed the previous government's even more complicated reforms through Phase One, developed a one-stop-shop fast-track consenting regime and announced a raft of 'quick fixes' to the interim RMA and national direction through Phase Two, and now we're turning to replacing the RMA in Phase Three."

The Phase Three RMA replacement is a core commitment in National's election manifesto and the National-ACT coalition agreement.

"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," Mr Court says.

"Empowering Kiwis to take a punt and invest time, care, and capital into their land is how we open the door to prosperity. Whether it's building a back yard retaining wall or replacing an old bridge on a state highway, we must shift from precautionary to permissive, and get rid of the absurd bespokism of navigating new consents and conditions for things we've done many times before."

Cabinet has agreed on ten core design features for the new resource management system. The new system will:

• Narrow the scope of the resource management system to focus on managing actual effects on the environment.
• Establish two Acts with clear and distinct purposes - one to manage environmental effects arising from activities, and another to enable urban development and infrastructure.
• Strengthen and clarify the role of environmental limits and how they are to be developed.
• Provide for greater use of national standards to reduce the need for resource consents and simplify council plans. This would mean that an activity which complies with the standards cannot be subject to a consent requirement.
• Shift the focus away from consenting before activities can get underway, and towards compliance, monitoring and enforcement of activities' compliance with national standards.
• Use spatial planning and a simplified designation process to lower the cost of future infrastructure.
• Realise efficiencies by requiring one regulatory plan per region, jointly prepared by regional and district councils.
• Provide for a rapid, low-cost resolution of disputes between neighbours and between property owners and councils, with the potential for a new Planning Tribunal (or equivalent).
• Uphold Treaty of Waitangi settlements and the Crown's obligations.
• Provide faster and cheaper processes with less reliance on litigation, contained within shorter and simpler legislation that is more accessible.

"An Expert Advisory Group has been established to work alongside officials at the Ministry for the Environment and other agencies to develop the core details of the new system," Mr Bishop says.

"I am delighted at the calibre of the experts who have agreed to work on the new system. They bring critical experience in law, planning, local government, the environment, primary industries, development, economics and Māori rights and interests. The group will be chaired by environmental barrister and former Environmental Defence Society director Janette Campbell. Other members of the group include Paul Melville, Rukumoana Schaafhausen, Kevin Counsell, Gillian Crowcroft, Christine Jones and Mark Chrisp."

"This is important and complicated work, and we are determined to avoid the mistakes of past reform efforts by governments in the past. Rather than kicking the issue of "fixing the RMA" off to a judge or lawyer to spend years studying before a report is even produced let alone actioned, the government is making it clear from the outset what the design of the new system will look like," Mr Court says.

"We have deliberately designed our reform programme in a calibrated and sequenced way to ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption. Changes made during Phase Two between now and mid-2025 are intended to transition into the new system."

Key aspects of the new resource management system will go to Cabinet for agreement before the end of 2024, and legislation will be introduced and passed before the next election.

Note to Editor:

Fact sheet attached.