On 20 Sept 2024, the Hon Chris Bishop, the Minister for RMA Reform, and Simon Court, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, announced the next steps in the Government’s plan to replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (the RMA). An ambitious timetable has been proposed with the Government intending for new legislation to be in place before the next election.

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.

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

1. Narrow the scope of the resource management system to focus on managing actual effects on the environment. The Minister said this will mean fewer consents and the scope of consents will be carefully limited.
2. Establish two Acts with clear and distinct purposes – one to manage environmental effects arising from activities, and another to enable urban development and infrastructure. The Minister said the current system focusing on integrated management had failed. No details have yet been provided as to how these two Acts will interact with each other, or how any inconsistencies will be resolved.
3. Strengthen and clarify the role of environmental limits and how they are to be developed.
4. 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. The Minister said the new national direction being developed by the Government in Phase 2 of the RMA reform  will be transitioned across into the new system, which will be more enabling of development.
5. Shift the focus away from consenting before activities can get underway, and towards compliance, monitoring and enforcement of activities’ compliance with national standards.
6. Use spatial planning and a simplified designation process to lower the cost of future infrastructure.
7. Realise efficiencies by requiring one regulatory plan per region, jointly prepared by regional and district councils. No details have yet been provided as to how the plan will be administered between councils and who will be responsible for enforcement.
8. 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).
9. Uphold Treaty of Waitangi settlements and the Crown’s obligations.
10. Provide faster and cheaper processes with less reliance on litigation, contained within shorter and simpler legislation that is more accessible.

Expert Advisory Group

The Government has appointed an expert advisory group to provide advice on a new planning and environmental system based on the ideas announced today. That group comprises Janette Campbell (Chair), Rukumoana Schaafhausen, Kevin Counsell, Gillian Crowcroft, Christine Jones, Mark Chrisp, and Paul Melville.

The expert advisory group is required to report back to the Government by the end of 2024. Public consultation is largely to occur via the Select Committee process.