The Natural and Built Environment (NBE) and the Spatial Planning (SP) Bills have been introduced to Parliament and will replace the existing Resource Management Act, which has been in place for three decades.
Megan Woods, Minister for Building and Construction, says the overhaul of the Resource Management system will make the ability to build new housing simpler, faster and cheaper. “The intent is that more housing and urban activities will be permitted and fewer consents needed,” Megan Woods said.
Environment Minister, David Parker called the current RMA process “broken”, adding that it takes too long, costs too much and has not adequately provided for development nor protected the environment.
“The existing system has made housing more expensive and contributed to a shortage of homes.”
“It needs to be faster, cheaper and better. We are doing that, delivering a system that provides greater certainty and less complexity.”
He says the new legislation will address many of the long- standing issues the RMA has created, while saving the economy hundreds of millions of dollars. His comments were echoed by Woods, who said the current RMA system is well past its use-by date and that the new legislation will create a system that will make it easier and more affordable to deliver housing in the places people need, while protecting the natural environment.
Between 2010-2014 and 2015-2019, the time to consent infrastructure projects increased by 150%.
“Reform is overdue. Everyone is frustrated – environmentalists, developers, councils, farmers, home builders, and there is cross-party support for the need to repeal and replace the RMA,” Parker says.
“There is clear evidence resource consenting has become more costly, with council fees for notified consents more than doubling between 2015 and 2019. Costs for mid-sized infrastructure projects are up 70 per cent in the same period.”
“New Zealand developers’ consenting costs of 5.5 per cent of total project costs are at the extreme end compared with the UK and the EU, where consenting costs are between 0.1 per cent and 5 per cent,” David Parker said.
“The new resource management system will deliver economic and environmental benefits. For every $1 spent the new system is expected to deliver $2.58 to $4.90 in benefits.”
“On a conservative estimate, costs to users will fall by 19 per cent a year, or $149m, equal to more than $10 billion in cost savings over 30 years.”
“More than 100 RMA plans will reduce to just 15 regional-level plans across the country. The time taken to prepare them will reduce from 10 years under the current system to a maximum of four years.”
“Off-the-shelf standards for housing and infrastructure projects will remove the need for bespoke specifications for each project, making future Transmission Gully-type projects easier and cheaper to consent.”
“Developers, infrastructure providers and businesses will see the largest costs savings as consent volumes and costs decrease, saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year.”
“Benefits will flow to the public through cost savings for housing and fewer consents. The environmental benefits – which cannot be valued in dollar terms – will be substantial.”
The requirement for regional spatial strategies will provide direction on where development, growth and infrastructure should be provided over 30-plus years.
“These spatial strategies will align infrastructure and land use planning to support well-functioning urban areas, and provide certainty to the sector,” Megan Woods said.
Meanwhile, a key tool that has been used to speed up the delivery of housing, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be kept. The
COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track consenting) Act 2020 has so far resulted in 31 housing projects with potential to deliver over 4,000 new homes being successfully fast-tracked or referred to an expert consenting panel. This has enabled medium and high-density housing in areas like Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, which are areas where demand for housing exceeds what Councils have previously enabled through their ordinary planning and consent processes.
“Our housing crisis was decades in the making and unfortunately there is no silver bullet to fixing the housing and urban system.”
“While we have already made important strides in enabling more urban development, such as investment in critical infrastructure like pipes and roads to support more housing, there is more to do.”
“A leaner, more responsive resource management system will help improve housing supply, affordability, and choice, and deliver better housing outcomes for Māori,” Megan Woods said.
The Natural and Built Environment and the Spatial Planning Bills will now go through a full select committee process. The Government aims to pass them into law before the next election.
Key improvements of the new legislation include:
- New standardised conditions will see fewer “bespoke” consents and speed up the process
- More upfront work on plans to provide clear direction and to increase certainty around consent processes
- Fast-track process retained
- On a conservative estimate, costs to users will fall 19% a year ($149m) or $10b over 30 years
- Environmental protection is improved, based on new targets and limits
- The National Planning Framework will provide consistency and certainty
- Over 100 RMA plans will reduce to 15
- NBE plans NBE plans to be completed within four years.
