Source: New Zealand Government
The Government will stop councils wasting their officers’ time and their ratepayers’ money on plan changes in advance of the new planning system coming into force, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says.
“The Resource Management Act (RMA) has crippled New Zealand for decades, and the Government’s planning system reforms are well underway to make it easier to get things done in New Zealand,” Mr Bishop says.
“We’ve already made a series of quick and targeted amendments to provide relief to our primary sector and passed the Fast-track Approvals Act to speed up the consenting process for projects with regional or nationally significant benefits. We’ve also opened consultation on sweeping changes to the regulations that sit under the RMA, and next month our second RMA Amendment Bill is expected to pass into law which will make important changes in the short-term to make it quicker and simpler to consent renewable energy, boost housing supply, and reduce red tape for the primary sector.
“Later this year the Government will introduce two new Acts to completely replace the RMA – one Act to focus on land-use planning and the second to focus on the natural environment. The new system will provide a framework that makes it easier to plan and deliver infrastructure as well as protect the environment.
“The existing RMA mandates that councils review their plans and policy statements every ten years. This has led to a situation where, even though councils know the RMA’s days are numbered, many are required to continue with time consuming, expensive plan-making processes under the RMA.
“Much of this planning work won’t be completed or implemented by the time the new system takes effect in 2027. Even if it were, it would need significant changes in the next couple of years to comply with the new planning laws.
“So rather than let these pricey, pointless planning and policy processes play out, the Government will be giving councils clarity on where to focus their efforts while they await the new planning system.
“The Government will suspend councils’ mandatory RMA requirements to undertake plan and regional policy statement reviews every ten years, and the requirement to implement national planning standards. We will also extend the restriction on notifying freshwater planning instruments which we put in place last year.
“Councils will be required to withdraw plan reviews and changes that have not started hearings as soon as possible and within 90 days of the law coming into effect. Any rules that have immediate legal effect will continue to apply until the plan review or plan change is withdrawn by councils and then those rules will no longer apply. We will also stop new plan changes and reviews from being notified, except where there is good reason for them to continue.
“This decision has been made after careful consideration, and a recommendation from an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) that the Government relieve some of the workload of councils in the lead up to the new resource management system.
“The Government’s intention is that stopping plan requirements for councils will enable them to focus on critical work to prepare to transition to the new system.”
Exemption pathways and notification
“Plan reviews and changes will be stopped through an Amendment Paper to the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill, which is expected to become law next month.
There are a limited number of plan changes that will be automatically exempt from the stopping of a plan change. Examples of automatic exemptions include Streamlined Planning Processes and private plan changes (which are initiated by landowners and developers).
“The Government believes it’s also important that councils can continue work on proposed plans, or parts of proposed plans, that relate to natural hazard management as well as for plan changes required by Treaty settlement agreements. Proposed plans that address these matters will be subject to an exemption.
“The proposed amendment also allows councils to apply to the Minister for the Environment for an exemption to continue or notify a new plan change.
“I want to be clear that stopping plan changes does not mean stopping progress on work that supports the Government’s priorities in areas like housing, intensification and urban development, and councils will have pathways to continue with work that unlocks housing growth,” Minister Bishop says.
The Government is currently consulting on national direction proposals that councils will not have to change plans to implement. Information is available here: Consultation on updating RMA national direction | Ministry for the Environment
