Law change 'may spur housing gold rush'

Planning experts say a proposed law change could spark a rush on coastal subdivision as developers try to beat incoming council rules.

The Government wants to make the planning system less confusing by stopping new council rules from having any effect until they have been through a public consultation process.

But planning experts are worried the change would give developers time to get approval for soon-to-be-banned developments - before tighter rules came into effect.

The change is among a number of proposals designed to make environment laws quicker and simpler to use.

A spokesman for Environment Minister Nick Smith said it would give councils an incentive to speed up the rule-making process because they would not be able to rely on new rules as soon as they announced them.

But Environmental Defence Society chairman Gary Taylor said the change could trigger a "gold rush" of development in coastal areas.

He said a rule change such as the recent move by Thames Coromandel District Council to restrict subdivision at Sailors Grave and Te Karo Bay, north of Tairua, could be useless by the time it took effect because developers would get in first.

It can take years for rules to go through the process of public consultation and legal challenges. At the moment, new rules have legal effect as soon as the council announces them. Much of the country is covered by two or more sets of council rules at a time - the old rules plus any new rules the council is trying to bring in.

The proposal would mean councils would have to go to court if they wanted rules to take effect when they were announced.

Dr Smith's spokesman said the minister had given councils the option of going to court because he was aware of the possibility of a "gold rush" effect.

The Resource Management (Simplification and Streamlining) Amendment Bill does not say who would be able to object if a council applied for a rule to have instant effect.

Environmental lawyer Janette Campbell said that whatever the court process, it would cause delay.

Councils had to decide whether to approve developments using the rules that applied the day the application was lodged, she said.

Environmental lawyer Padraig McNamara said the proposal could give rise to a "gold rush effect".

More detail of how the law would work is expected to come out during the select committee process.

Mr Taylor said the proposal would make it almost impossible for planners to keep ahead of environmental issues.