The Government's promising long-awaited new legislation will fix a "broken" resource management system and save the economy billions over the coming decades.
More than 100 plans influencing consenting across different centres will be reduced to just 15 regional plans developed by local committees and guided by long-term strategies. A national framework will also be devised to ensure central government has a say in overall direction.
Environmental protection will also now be focused on outcomes, "setting limits to maintain current environmental limits and targets where degradation needs to be restored".
But full implementation is a long way away. The new system will be introduced in tranches, but it will take 10 years. The Government will experiment on three regions initially, with a "model project" to be announced to test the new system.
The changes are being made through two new pieces of legislation being introduced on Tuesday to replace the 30-year-old Resource Management Act (RMA).
The current system is described by Environment Minister David Parker as "broken".
"It takes too long, costs too much and has not adequately provided for development nor protected the environment," he said. "The existing system has made housing more expensive and contributed to a shortage of homes."
He said council fees for notified consents have more than doubled between 2015 and 2019, with the cost of infrastructure projects up 70 percent over the same period. In some cases, consenting costs are 5.5 percent of the total project costs for some infrastructure developers.
And the added costs haven't led to a quicker system. Time to consent infrastructure projects rose by 150 percent between 2010 and 2014, and between 2015 and 2019.
The new system will mean for every $1 spent, between $2.58 and $4.90 will be reaped in benefits. Conservative modelling shows the cost to users will fall by 19 percent a year - $149m - which could mean savings of more than $10 billion over 30 years.
He said the time taken to receive a consent will be "substantially lower" under the new system.
"Successive governments have failed to deliver comprehensive resource management reform. More than 20 major amendments and thousands of minors ones since the RMA was introduced have increased complexity," Parker said.
"Reform is overdue. Everyone is frustrated - environmentalists, developers, councils, farmers, home builders, and there is cross-party support for the need to repeal and replace the RMA."
How will it work?
The Government's proposing three new major pieces of legislation, but only two are being introduced on Tuesday. The third, focused on the effects of climate change and issues associated with managed retreat, will be introduced at a later date.
For now, the focus is on the Natural and Built Environment Act (NBA) and the Spatial Planning Act (SPA).
The NBA is the "primary replacement" for the RMA. It will set out the rules for land use and resource allocation in a region with a National Planning Framework (NPF) highlighting national policy, desired outcomes, limits on environmental degradation and targets.
The NPF will replace the Government's current national directions, such as policy statements on water or air quality, bringing those under one umbrella framework.
An independent national Māori entity will also be established to provide input into the NPF and monitor how Te Tiriti o Waitangi is being adhered to. Provisions in current Treaty settlements will be upheld under this new system.
Informed by the NPF, each of the 15 regions will be required to develop a Natural and Built Environment Plan (NBE). These will replace the currently more than 100 district and region plans, making consenting and planning rules more consistent.
"Off-the-shelf standards for housing and infrastructure projects will remove the need for bespoke specifications for each project, making future Transmission Gully-type projects easier and cheaper to consent," said Parker.
These plans will be created by each region's regional planning committee comprised of representatives of local hapu, iwi and Māori, and local government.
There will be a minimum of six members, with a minimum of two Māori members and one chosen by central government. Each territorial authority and regional council can have a member.
Associate Environment Minister Kiri Allan said this doesn't constitute co-governance but allows consistency from current arrangements where Māori have a role.
The second piece of legislation, the SPA, will inform longer-term planning, with the local committees required to develop 30-year regional spatial strategies (RSS). Again, these will be informed by the NPF and help the regions decide on their NBEs.
Region's new RSS will be accompanied by high-level plans that set out how regions will deliver on their priority actions.
Resource consents will still be the primary land use or resource allocation approval method, but more standardised across a region. The Government says the NPF and NBE will allow more activities to be undertaken without resource consent.
"Developers, infrastructure providers and businesses will see the largest cost savings as consent volumes and costs decrease, saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year," said Parker.
"Benefits will flow to the public through costs savings for housing and fewer consents. The environmental benefits - which cannot be valued in dollar terms - will be substantial."
Under the NPF, there will be a change in the way environmental protection is considered.
Currently, there is an "effects-based" approach. New infrastructure projects each have an "effect" and as long as the environmental effects are kept to a minimum standard, they can be advanced. However, Parker said this has had a negative impact on the environment.
"Put simply, an effects-based approach often saw many small adverse effects accumulate into significant environment degradation - most notably with water quality and loss of biodiversity and top soil".
There will now be a shift to an approach based on overall outcome, with limits set to maintain current environmental levels and new targets where degradation needs to be restored. So, for example, there may be targets for the quality of air or freshwater.
Developments will have to occur within these limits and targets, which will be set nationally and locally. Exemptions will be available for specified infrastructure projects.
The new system will also change how scarce resources - like water - are allocated.
Under the current structure, councils can adopt allocation plans, but they haven't, Parker said. They've instead issued consents on a first-come, first-served basis, which he said has been unfair and not delivered the best economic outcomes.
"They new system will require regional planning committees to have an allocation plan applying the principles set out in the Randerson Panel report, which was completed in 2020 after extensive consultation and input from interested parties," Parker said.
"Those principles take into account fairness, efficiency and investment, such as in irrigation systems, while creating a process to access water for those currently unable to securie it."
He said this would ensure communities get the "best economic return from water".
When will it come into place?
The Government will introduce the first two pieces of legislation on Tuesday and be passed into law before the next election after going through the usual parliamentary procedure. The climate change legislation will also be introduced in 2023 and is expected to pass in 2024.
The first NPF iteration is expected to be notified in 2023 and then published in 2025, when the Government also expects the development of RSS to begin.
Three regions will be selected as "model regions" to start developing RSS and NBE plans. The Government is planning to implement model projects in these regions to "test and demonstrate the workability of the new system and "to provide learnings" for the next tranche of regions a year later.
It's expected this will accelerate the overall implementation and provide a base to test the components of the new system and give system partners and users clarity.
The implementation of the new system has already received funding through the past two Budgets.
How we got here
As Parker has said, successive governments have long wanted to make major changes to the RMA, but none have succeeded.
In 2019, the Labour-led Government set up a panel led by Tony Randerson KC to review the resource management system.
It found the RMA had doubled in length since first being created in 1991 and become a "complex patchwork of provisions". The panel made a number of recommendations which have been picked up by the Government, such as the NBA and SPA.
In February 2021, Parker confirmed the RMA would be repealed and replaced with the three new laws.
"Urban areas are struggling to keep pace with population growth and the need for affordable housing. Water quality is deteriorating, biodiversity is diminishing and there is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change," Parker said at the time.
"The new laws will improve the natural environment, enable more development within environmental limits, provide an effective role for Māori, and improve housing supply and affordability."
A Select Committee inquiry was held on an exposure draft of the NBA in 2021.
The Government set out five objectives for the new system:
To protect and, where necessary, restore the environment and its capacity to provide for the wellbeing of present and future generations.
To better enable development within natural environmental limits including a significant improvement in housing supply, affordability and choice, and timely provision of appropriate infrastructure including social infrastructure.
To give proper recognition to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and provide greater recognition of te ao Māori including mātauranga Māori.
To better prepare for adapting to climate change and risks from natural hazards and better mitigate the emissions.
To improve system efficiency and effectiveness and reduce complexity while ensuring local input and involvement.
