Classic Builders owner Peter Cooney says housing affordability and pricey building consents are holding up residential growth in Tauranga. Photo / File
Classic Builders owner Peter Cooney says housing affordability and pricey building consents are holding up residential growth in Tauranga. Photo / File
The return of a National-led government has been welcomed by local Tauranga developers who hope to see prompt action to push through proposed amendments to the Resource Management Act to speed up the consenting process.
Federated Farmers and the Property Council have also weighed in on the RMA this week, saying the new government now had a mandate to move ahead quickly with the reforms.
Holland Beckett partner Vanessa Hamm said issues raised by Bay of Plenty clients over current RMA requirements centred around the potential for resource consent processes to get hi-jacked through public notifications, involvement by other parties, and a protracted appeal process, leading to cost and delay.
"At the moment if a project is publicly notified, anyone can make a submission on it," she said. "There's no limitation as to who comes in or what issues they raise, and once you've made a submission you have a right to appeal to the Environment Court."
However, the New Zealand Planning Institute has countered that New Zealand planners are doing an efficient job of processing consents. "Planners can only operate within the prescribed legislative framework and the stats tell us we are doing a very good job within those constraints," said NZPI chairman Bryce Julyan.
The National government has been looking at changes to the Act since it enacted the Resource Management Act (Simplifying and Streamlining act) 2009.
Peter Cooney, head of Classic Builders, said developers were looking for a faster process.
"When there's a road block there'll be a dispute, there'll be a planning issue, there'll be grey areas," he said. "Developers just want quick, speedy solutions and that is what the RMA hasn't provided previously. If you wind up in a dispute and go to the Environment Court, it could go to six or nine months and sometimes even longer. The process should be quick and efficient and it's not. "
Paul Adams, head of Carrus Corp, said developers wanted councils to stick to the time line required under the RMA. "They kick for touch every time they haven't got the resources to get on with the job or make a decision, to buy time," he said.
However, Classic Builders' Peter Cooney said that over the past 12 to 18 months, the Tauranga City Council had taken a much more tactical approach to development.
Resource Management Act timeline
• 1991 - RMA enacted.
• 2009 - RMA (Simplifying and Streamlining Act) passed.
• March 2013 - submissions called for on changes.
• September 2013 - government's proposed amendments published.
Focused submissions
Vanessa Hamm. Photo / BOPT
One of the key proposed amendments relates to sections six and seven of the Resource Management Act relating to national consistency and guidance, says Holland Beckett partner Vanessa Hamm.
And this is an area where National's increased numbers in Parliament may see a stronger line taken, she adds.
The original proposal was to combine section six, which dealt with matters of national importance, and section seven, which covered "other" matters, into one list of matters of national importance. The original proposal was to then bring under section seven a list of decision-making principles, which would have placed a greater emphasis on economic development, said Ms Hamm.
"Those amendments would certainly be welcomed by the applicant community, because they bring out more of the economic side of the argument for decision-making, as opposed to the national importance or environmental matters," she said.
However, the previous National-led coalition did not support that proposal, and it was not progressed, she said.
"The question is whether National, now it can govern alone, may wish to harden those proposals up further."
Other key proposed changes likely to affect local decision-making included process improvements for simple projects, fixed fees for consents, changes to improve Environmental Protection Agency processes, some changes to "affected party" and notification provisions and submission rights, quicker resolution of appeals, and more certainty around consent conditions
Ms Hamm said there appeared to be a desire to make sure submissions were more focused, with councils being required to strike out submissions which were irrelevant or had no evidential basis.
"These changes will be beneficial in projects where 'fringe' submitters raise lots of irrelevant issues, take an appeal, and then put the applicant to proof on a range of matters."
