RMA – movement at last

Since the RMA first raised its ugly side – initially set up to protect our environment but usually used to prevent any development at all – we have laboured under a tangle of bureaucratic and planning red tape whenever we tried to build anything bigger than a hen house. Top it off with a bit of good ole health and safety and it is no wonder that society limps from crisis to crisis.

Housing has become a sore that will now itch for a very long time. Politicians’ proclamations that they will build thousands of extra houses are just pie in the sky. They can only build these houses by establishing more debt or taking resources from those struggling already.

So they turn to ‘‘fast tracking’’. This means ‘‘Ignore the rules, just go ahead and do it, but make sure you maintain a facade of legality about what you do or everyone will want to do it.’’

If I so much as want to put up a covered outdoor barbecue area the council will require me to fill out a resource consent form, provide associated building plans, ask permission from my unaffected neighbours and then, when they give me the ultimate permission to go ahead, will send me another invoice.

My final note on covenants governing the size of modern houses. In 20 years when the climate has changed and resources have depleted, it just may happen that smaller houses are worth more than larger houses.

Geoff Orchard

Ohaupo

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