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A parliamentary committee has recommended MPs ditch a member's bill that would penalise councils that take too long to process resource consents.
National Party MP Nick Smith's Building (Late Consent is a Free Consent) Amendment Bill says local authorities must comply with the 20-day time limit set out in law or remit all fees.
The bill passed its first reading 69 votes to 51, with only Labour opposing it and was sent to Parliament's local government and environment select committee.
The committee's report, released today, recommends the bill goes no further.
The nine-member committee has four Labour MPs, four National MPs and one Green Party MP.
National MPs disagreed with the majority recommendation and Dr Smith could still stitch together enough support to have it passed if he could convince New Zealand First, United Future and the Maori Party to continue supporting it.
The committee report said Dr Smith's concerns over delays in resource consent processing were valid, but did not believe his bill would solve them.
It risked promoting speed at the expense of quality, councils prioritising consents for big developments, which had larger fees, over smaller applicants and encouraging poor quality applications.
Councils were also likely to compensate for any lost revenue through higher rates.
In a minority view National Party MPs said delays in processing consents were driving up the price of new houses.
It said current time restrictions on councils were meaningless when they were not enforced in any way.
- NZPA
