Govt plans to extend ports’ operating permits

The Government wants to extend coastal permits ports need to operate for a further 20 years, giving operators certainty to continue their operations.

RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown jointly made the announcement at an Auckland media conference yesterday that was gatecrashed by a small group of protesters. “It’s just become too hard to do things in this country,” he said.

The protesters, who carrying banners that criticised the use of fossil fuels and the new fast track consenting regime for big projects, moved in behind the two ministers to shout at the pair. “Protecting my future is not red tape,” was one criticism yelled out as the ministers held a media conference.

The Resource Management Act, which was introduced in 1991, required ports to obtain coastal permits for the the activities they were undertaking and had a duration of 35 years.

“Since then, ports have expanded and obtained permits for new activities, but the complexity of gaining permits for pre-1991 activities has become increasingly difficult,” Bishop said in a statement.

The permits cover activities such as navigation aids, safe anchor areas, and some structures such as wharves and the existing permits are set to expire in September 2026.

“We are taking action to extend these permits by a further 20 years so that port companies have continued certainty for carrying out their activities. We need to move form an obstruction economy to a can-do economy,” Bishop said, citing the fact that a Wellington wind farm, West Wind, had been built in two years but had taken eight years to get resource consents.

The extension of ports’ coastal permits is aligned with the National-NZ First coalition agreement commitment to facilitate the development and efficiency of ports and strengthen international supply networks.