Te Whakahaere Rawa

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Resource management

The Resource Management Act 1991 was criticised for being overly complex and slow-moving, failing to address New Zealand's growth and development needs, and not delivering better outcomes for our natural environment. For a long time, there has been widespread consensus that change is needed.

The previous Labour Government introduced and passed legislation in 2023 creating a new resource management system that would be transitioned to over time. That Government proposed shifting a number of councils’ existing resource management functions to new Regional Planning Committees.

The incoming government has signalled that there may be changes to the previous government’s reform. Whatever happens at the national political level, LGNZ will continue to advocate for the active involvement of local councils and communities in influencing and making resource management and land use planning decisions.

Our work to date

The timeline below summarises activity to date.

April 2024

We made a joint submission with Taituarā on the Fast-track Approvals Bill (FTA).

Read our submission: Fast-track Approvals Bill (FTA)

February 2023

We submitted on the Natural and Bill Environment Bill and the Spatial Planning Bill, outlining how they could be improved.

Read our submission: Natural and Bill Environment Bill and the Spatial Planning Bill

October 2022

We produced a summary of council views on resource management reform.

Read our paper: Council Views on Resource Management Reform

August 2022

We wrote to Environment Minister David Parker regarding the delivery of successful resource management reform.

Read our full letter outlining key concerns and recommendations

Read a summary of our letter outlining key concerns and recommendations

Read Minister Parker’s response

Throughout 2022

We ran a number of workshops on the proposed reforms to cover what they encompassed, local government’s concerns with them and governance and decision-making arrangements.