Resource management reform in New Zealand – a closer look

With the recent release of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) blueprint for resource management reform, our Technical Director of Planning, Phil Comer looks at the blueprint's recommendations and the direction of environmental and planning law reform in the future in New Zealand.

Based on the EAG recommendations, key features of the new resource management system will likely include:

  • Two acts: A Planning Act focused on regulating the use, development and enjoyment of land, and a Natural Environment Act focused on the use, protection and enhancement of the natural environment

  • A narrowed approach to effects management: The new system will be based on the economic concept of “externalities”. Effects that are borne solely by the party undertaking the activity will not be controlled by the new system (for example, interior building layouts or exterior aspects of buildings that have no impact on neighbouring properties such as the size and configuration of apartments, the provision of balconies, and the configuration of outdoor open spaces for a private dwelling). Matters such as effects on trade competition will be excluded

  • Property rights: Both Acts will include starting presumptions that land use is enabled unless there is a significant enough impact on either the ability of others to use their land or on the natural environment. It'll reduce the scope of effects being regulated and enable more activities to take place as of right. There will be clear protection for lawfully established existing use rights, including the potential for the reasonable expansion of existing activities over time where the site is ‘zoned or owned’. There will be a requirement for regulatory justification reports if departing from approaches to regulation standardised at the national level. Compensation may happen for regulatory takings in some circumstances. There will be an expansion in the range of permitted activities

  • Simplified national direction: One set of national policy directions under each Act will simplify, streamline, and direct local government plans and decision-making in the system. Direction under the Natural Environment Act will cover freshwater, indigenous biodiversity and coastal policy. Direction under the new Planning Act will cover urban development, infrastructure (including renewable energy) and natural hazards

  • Environmental limits: A clearer legislative basis for setting environmental limits for our natural environment will provide more certainty around where development can and should be enabled, whilst protecting the environment

  • Greater use of standardisation: Nationally set standards, including standardised land use zones, will provide significant system benefits and efficiencies. The new legislation will provide for greater standardisation, while still maintaining local decision-making over the things that matter

  • Spatial plans: Each region will be required to have a spatial plan, focused on identifying sufficient future urban development areas, development areas that are being prioritised for public investment and existing and planned infrastructure corridors and strategic sites

  • Streamlining of council plans: A combined plan will include a spatial planning chapter, an environment chapter and planning chapters (one per territorial authority district)

  • Strengthening environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement: To safeguard the environment, a national compliance regulator with a regional presence will be established – taking over a function currently perceived to be done poorly by regional councils. 

Our thoughts

  • The direction for RMA reform builds on the Phase 1 bills introduced by the government and the intent to introduce nationally set standards, including standardised land use zones might be a great idea in principle but how will standardisation be achieved in the context of the varied New Zealand landscape and ensure effective resource management nationwide? It will be interesting to see how standard zones can be effectively applied to our big cities as well as to our smaller urban centres, and our extensive and varied rural areas which accommodate a diverse range of rural production and other activities

  • The streamlining of council plans so that all plans will include a spatial plan chapter, an environment chapter and a planning chapter (to address each new Act), will introduce a higher level of consistency in the structure and content of council plans across New Zealand. Consistency will make it easier for plan users to navigate and understand council plans wherever in the country they apply; but, we hope that flexibility is enabled to ensure that council plans are prepared to reflect local context and the unique resource management issues faced by each territorial authority area so that these can be effectively acknowledged and addressed

  • We expect clear plan-making guidance to be part and parcel of the new legislation

  • The new plans will not be prepared overnight. We expect a transition period of several years for territorial authorities to prepare and notify the new council plans; so the district and regional plans that we all work with now will likely continue to provide the resource management rulebooks for some time to come

  • The two big game changers in the environmental space are setting environmental limits for our natural environment and putting in place a national compliance regulator

  • We believe these are great ideas in principle, having the potential to significantly improve environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement throughout New Zealand. But, we also think that the cost of operating a national compliance regulation system that can effectively monitor compliance with new environmental limits, will be high and it will be interesting to see how the Government will resource and fund regulation

  • It will also be interesting to see how the new legislation balances the need to set and comply with environmental limits for our natural environments where there are also significant development pressures. The EAG recommendations Cabinet has chosen to advance will now be taken forwards into new legislation that is expected to be introduced in Parliament later this year.

Harrison Grierson will be monitoring things closely in the coming months and will provide further updates on RMA reform as they happen.

Please reach out to our planning team to find out more: