- Hon Chris Bishop
- Simon Court
Resource Management Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court are welcoming the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill being reported back from the Environment Committee, with changes that improve the workability of New Zealand’s new planning system while retaining its core design.
“The Government is replacing the broken Resource Management Act with a new planning system that will make it easier to produce food and fibre, and build the homes, infrastructure and renewable energy that New Zealand needs – while continuing to protect the environment,” Mr Bishop says.
“It’s a big part of the Government’s plan to fix the basics, remove barriers to growth and build a stronger economy.
“The economic benefits of our new planning system are significant. Independent analysis shows the new planning system is projected to boost GDP by an additional 0.56 per cent every year by 2050, worth up to $3.1 billion annually. A cost benefit analysis estimates $13.3 billion in savings over 30 years through reduced administrative and compliance costs.
“Officials also estimate that around 45 per cent of consent and permit applications required under the RMA could be removed under the new system. Based on 2023/24 volumes, that represents between 15,000 and 22,000 consents no longer needed.
“Over the past six months, the Environment Committee has carefully considered submissions from across New Zealand.
“The Committee has now reported the Bills back to Parliament having recommended a range of sensible improvements – which the Government supports – that strengthen the legislation while retaining the core features of the new planning system.
“Alongside the Committee’s recommendations, the Government has agreed further amendments to the legislation.
“One of those changes relates to Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements.
“The Bills as introduced provide that Mana Whakahono ā Rohe that existed or had been initiated prior to the Bills being enacted would transfer into the new system, but that there would be no provision for new ones.
“Since the Bills were introduced, we have become concerned about the rapid increase in new agreements and initiated processes between councils and iwi. Eight existed when the Bills were introduced late last year. Since then, several dozen more have been agreed or initiated.
“Cabinet has therefore agreed that existing and initiated Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements will not transfer into the new planning system.
“Instead, councils will have the option of entering into new narrowly scoped iwi participation agreements to record how iwi authorities will participate in statutory planning processes and processes required to give effect to Treaty settlement redress. Clear guardrails will be included in the legislation to prevent scope creep.
“The Government is also considering options around Waikato’s Plan Change 1 (PC1), which the Environment Court recently released its final decision on.
“It doesn’t make sense for Waikato farmers and growers to be implementing a new plan change at the same time as the underlying legislation is changing and new national direction is being issued, so we may address this issue through a further amendment.
“The Committee’s recommendations also include a range of practical improvements that strengthen certainty, reduce unnecessary compliance costs, and make the legislation more practical to implement.
“The core architecture remains unchanged. The new two-Bill system will be retained, which features goals and national instruments setting direction from the top, a narrowing of matters that can be revisited at each successive level of decision-making, more consistent planning rules, fewer consenting requirements, higher thresholds for public participation in consents, and a clearer focus on managing the effects that matter.
“Changes to the purpose and goals will give stronger recognition to people’s enjoyment of their land and the importance of food and fibre production, and will better enable infrastructure, create competitive urban land markets that deliver an abundance of development opportunities, and support enhancement of the natural environment.
“In response to concerns raised by submitters, the Committee has strengthened the safeguards around natural resource levies, ensuring they remain tightly focused on covering costs and are better linked to the resource, location and activities they fund.
“It has also removed the proposed market-based and comparative allocation approaches and retained first-in, first-served permitting, providing greater certainty while the Government continues work on future allocation approaches.
“The removal of the precautionary principle better reflects the Government’s intention that planning decisions should be proportionate and evidence-based, even where information is uncertain.
“The Committee has retained the approach to providing for Māori interests through a system goal and iwi participation in national instruments and plan-making rather than relying on broad, open-ended Treaty provisions.
“It has also made helpful recommendations to clarify the obligations related to upholding Treaty settlements, which the Government has committed to do. We intend to provide further specificity regarding some settlements through an Amendment Paper.
“Importantly, the Committee has also refined the transition to the new planning system, extending the implementation period from 30 to 39 months in response to feedback from councils and planning practitioners.
“This will provide more time to prepare the first tranche of national instruments and support a smoother transition from the Resource Management Act to the new system,” Mr Bishop says.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court says the Committee has made practical changes that make the new planning system easier to use while protecting the environment.
“Changes to the Natural Environment Bill restore controlled activity classes to give farmers and other primary producers more certainty, and simplify wildlife approvals to cut unnecessary bureaucracy so projects can get underway sooner.
“They have also made it clearer that environmental limits need to balance environmental, social and economic outcomes, and that those limits should be workable in practice.
“The Bill also reins in unnecessary council overreach through the regulatory relief provisions while recognising the contribution private landowners make to protecting public values.
“The negative effects of greenhouse gas emissions are already managed through the Climate Change Response Act and the Emissions Trading Scheme. Removing them from this planning system avoids duplication and provides greater certainty.
“The result is a planning system that’s simpler, more predictable, and makes it easier to build the homes, infrastructure and energy projects New Zealand needs while protecting the environment.”
Mr Bishop and Mr Court thanked the Committee, chaired by Catherine Wedd, and the many New Zealanders, organisations and businesses who made submissions on the Bills.
“The Bills will now proceed to their second reading in Parliament,” Mr Bishop says.
“We will shortly release an illustrative draft of the new National Policy Direction, continuing the next phase of these reforms and giving New Zealanders a clearer picture of how the new planning system will operate in practice.
“These reforms will replace one of New Zealand’s most complicated and litigious pieces of legislation with a planning system that is more predictable, more consistent and far better at enabling New Zealand to grow.”
Find attached:
- Fact sheet: Key features of the new planning system
- Fact sheet: Key changes to the Bills at Select Committee
