NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

<i>Dialogue:</i> Red tape ties development in tangled web

28 Sep, 2001 09:50 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

National environmental spokesman NICK SMITH says reforms are needed to overcome the delays, costs and uncertainty of the RMA.

The bureaucracy that has grown out of the Resource Management Act has New Zealand trapped in the economic slow lane. If we are serious about catching up with the living standards of
other Western countries, we must reform this act.

Thousands of people sit in traffic jams because Transit New Zealand cannot get resource consents for new roads.

Homeowners flounder in getting consents to build a simple carport or a patio.

Investors abandon the country frustrated with the delays and uncertainty over developments.

The problem has been highlighted by Competitive Auckland, the Knowledge Wave conference and by the ministerial panel on compliance costs.

The objections are not about high environmental standards but the cost and complexity of 25,000 pages of council rules and the years it takes to get decisions.

The Government has ignored the problem. Proposals introduced by National in 1999 to amend the act have been gutted.

Instead, the Government has given millions of dollars in legal aid to objectors, removed provisions that allow costs to be awarded and is making non-notification decisions appealable.

National has developed a package that tackles the delays, costs and uncertainty caused by the act. We want to retain the sound principles behind the original legislation, but give it a dose of pragmatism to make it work better.

The most common complaint about the act concerns time delays. There are 3000 cases - involving investments worth billions of dollars - waiting for Environment Court hearings. On average, these will take more than two years to resolve.

Transit New Zealand told the Government that it could take up to seven years to get a motorway consent. Singapore, which has tougher environmental laws than New Zealand, can process consents in seven days.

These delays are a result of idealistic provisions which allow anyone to object to anything. For a $55 filing fee, anyone can further appeal, effectively delaying the consent for years. The process is open to abuse.

A new hotel complex at the famous Punakaiki Rocks on the West Coast was put on hold for three years by an objector who did not like tourists.

This objection cost the young family who developed the sensitively-designed complex more than a million dollars, and jeopardised 20 jobs.

Businesses can dream up an environmental reason to disrupt a competitor. The objections lodged by Tranz Rail against Solid Energy's plan for a coal jetty at Westport had far more to do with the loss of business across the Transalpine rail link than protecting aquatic life at Cape Foulwind.

The act can easily be exploited for commercial advantage.

The problem has become so great that "backhanders" are commonplace. The Herald exposed the planned deal for the withdrawal of an appeal over a water right for Carter Holt Harvey in exchange for a million dollar grant to Tainui.

This growing culture is undermining New Zealand's reputation as one of the most honest places to do business.

National wants to limit participants to those who are directly affected by a development.

We want to narrow the vague definition of environment to ensure it cannot be exploited for commercial advantage.

We believe that financing a mediation service will do far more than providing legal aid for objectors. We believe the courts need to have the power to award costs and damages where parties abuse the process.

The other big concern is uncertainty. A complex mix of thousands of district and regional rules has cost ratepayers well over $200 million to develop.

The answer lies in consistent national environmental standards. We cannot justify 79 different rules for subdivision.

We need clear, concise rules focused on protecting the environment.

The consideration of individual consents should be left to independent commissioners.



National will remove ministers from individual consents. Their job is to get the law and policy right for all applicants.

No problem is as contentious as the requirements of the act to consult Maori. Too often, developers undertake the process in good faith, only to get burnt by not consulting the right iwi

The responsibility for consulting iwi should rest with public authorities, not applicants, and iwi should be required to register with councils their areas of interest.

The Resource Management Act relies too much on the performance of each District, City and Regional Council. Councils should be subject to regular audits of their administration of the Act.

* Nick Smith is the National Party's environment spokesman.

Dialogue on business

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Airlines

Pilot sacked over Covid-19 vaccine wins Employment Court case

08 Jul 07:09 AM
Premium
Manufacturing

On The Up: Freeze-dried food maker aims for major growth with Rebel Sport, Foodstuffs deals

08 Jul 07:00 AM
Premium
Shares

Market close: NZX not crying over spilt a2 Milk, gains 0.74%

08 Jul 05:51 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Pilot sacked over Covid-19 vaccine wins Employment Court case

Pilot sacked over Covid-19 vaccine wins Employment Court case

08 Jul 07:09 AM

'Great' pilot was sacked despite doctor's vaccine advice, request for Novavax.

Premium
On The Up: Freeze-dried food maker aims for major growth with Rebel Sport, Foodstuffs deals

On The Up: Freeze-dried food maker aims for major growth with Rebel Sport, Foodstuffs deals

08 Jul 07:00 AM
Premium
Market close: NZX not crying over spilt a2 Milk, gains 0.74%

Market close: NZX not crying over spilt a2 Milk, gains 0.74%

08 Jul 05:51 AM
Reserve Bank of Australia surprises markets, holds cash rate at 3.85%

Reserve Bank of Australia surprises markets, holds cash rate at 3.85%

08 Jul 05:45 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP