Finally, a plan and timeline to fix the broken RMA – Editorial

The Prime Minister says it costs us 50% more to build a home than in Australia. Photo / Michael Craig

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS

• The Government has unveiled a new Resource Management Act system to simplify planning and reduce red tape.
• RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said the reforms aim to improve infrastructure development and natural resource management.
• The new system includes two acts, focusing on land use and environmental protection, with standardised zoning.

The Resource Management Act is broken and everyone knows it.

Those were the words of Resource Management Act (RMA) Reform Minister Chris Bishop on Monday as the Government announced its plans to overhaul planning rules.

There are few parliamentarians or garden variety New Zealanders who would disagree with him.

The RMA has represented the worst of this country’s regulation and excessive red tape.

For a population of just over five million, we had 1175 land use zones. No, that isn’t a typo.

To use Bishop’s example, Japan and its population of more than 120 million has 13.

The problem is not hard to see.

The Government also wants to reduce the number of resource management plans local government is required to produce from more than 100 to about 16.

This move also shows the bipartisan desire for standardisation.

Labour’s environment spokeswoman Rachel Brooking said she wrote to Bishop in December 2023 offering to work with him and that offer still stood.

Some of the proposals like this pick up the baton left by Labour, whose reforms were to streamline this to 15 plans. The number roughly matches each of New Zealand’s 16 regions.

The current RMA increases the difficulty of building homes and infrastructure. It should make it easier but with a priority for proper oversight to ensure environmental protections.

Bishop also believes the current RMA hasn’t resulted in better management of our natural environment.

Brooking, meanwhile, has raised important concerns about how the environment will be considered, particularly in an urban setting. It will be for the Government to ensure the proper protections are in place.

“It now takes us 19 months to build a standard three to four-bedroom house in this country and it’s 50% more expensive than Australia – forget the land [price],” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB yesterday.

Fifty per cent is a mark-up this country simply cannot afford, even at the best of economic times.

An economic analysis published with the reforms suggests the benefits could be worth as much as $14.8 billion.

If this plays out as consultancy Sapere’s analysis suggests, it would be a game-changer for this country.

The figure could include $11.3b in compliance cost reductions and $3.5b in reduced administrative costs.

It is worth noting Sapere has warned the estimates were uncertain. The proof therefore for the Government to boast about then will be when we see it happen.

The reform plan, which follows a blueprint from the Government’s Expert Advisory Group on RMA reform, will involve two pieces of legislation, one focused on land use and development, and another focused on the environment.

These two bills will be introduced before the end of the year. It is thought they will be in force before the next round of district plans from councils in 2027.

Everyone hated the RMA, this Government must finally make the alternative better.

Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.