Planning law report supported

Call for RMA replacement

BUSINESS and property groups welcome a report released yesterday recommending replacing the Resource Management Act.

But implementing new legislation is bound to be a fraught process.

The Productivity Commission released its ‘‘Better Urban Planning’’ report which included, among other things, a recommendation to replace the RMA and other statutes with a single new planning law that governs both the built and natural environment.

It also recommended ensuring clearer central government stewardship of the planning system; using statutory principles to set expectations for fair, efficient and proportionate planning decisions; and making greater use of targeted rates and alternative infrastructure funding tools.

Finance Minister Steven Joyce said the Government would respond formally to the commission’s recommendations in due course.

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said the planning recommendations could help overcome housing and infrastructure problems.

A new approach to resource management law would be positive and the commission’s recommendations contained good direction towards a replacement Act.

The commission’s report covered a huge range of connected issues, including urban planning, housing, infrastructure and environmental protection. It would be important for there to be good public discussion on the recommendations, he said.

A new Act would make a clear distinction between the built environment and the natural environment. Separate provisions would allow for protection of the natural environment while better enabling development in urban areas.

‘‘Planning problems evident in cities today have arisen in part because of the broad and unclear provisions of the current RMA. The commission recommends a new Act should contain clearly defined and restrained objections. Planners would then have clearer parameters to work within,’’ Mr Hope said.

Property Council chief executive Connal Townsend said the report was a good starting point but while it recommended a wide range of reform options, the Government must be careful not to cherry pick.

‘‘If the Government wants to implement the reforms, they need to do so as a coherent package.

‘‘As we’ve seen with the RMA, constant tinkering by successive governments has resulted in a fragmented Act that does not achieve the desired outcomes for the environment or development.’’ He supported exploring whether a new planning Act, which provided a distinction between the built and natural environments, could work.

Local Government Funding Agency chairman Craig Stobo said the need for alternative funding options for local government was becoming more urgent.

The agency lent to 52 councils. While those councils were expected to maintain a financial buffer for unexpected expenditure and should continue to display prudent financial management, rising infrastructure pressure meant a need for alternatives to debt funding.

Councils were generally in a strong position and were expected to remain within their financial covenants.

However, there were critical infrastructure requirements, particularly in areas of high growth or key tourism areas, which could not be ignored. Some of those councils had the largest funding challenges, he said.

The commission’s report said a future planning system should continue to expect councils to engage with Maori early in the development and review of plans. Progress across councils in that regard was uneven.

To better address Treaty of Waitangi responsibilities and to even up progress across councils, the Government should give Maori a statutory role in the stewardship of the planning system through a national Maori advisory board on planning and the Treaty of Waitangi and issue a national policy statement on the recognition and activity protection of Maori treaty interests in planning and the environment.

❛Planning problems evident in cities today have arisen in part because of the broad and unclear provisions

of the current RMA❜

— BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope