Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill

1. Do the proposed amendments create, amend, or remove:

(a)   offences or penalties (including infringement offences or penalties and civil pecuniary penalties)?

NO

(b)   the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal (including rights to judicial review or rights of appeal)?

NO

1.1. Was the Ministry of Justice consulted about these provisions?

NO

2. Do the proposed amendments create, amend, or remove any provisions relating to the collection storage, access to, correction of, use or disclosure of personal information?

NO

3. Do the proposed amendments contain any provisions that could result in the compulsory acquisition of private property?

NO

4. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a power to impose a fee, levy or charge in the nature of a tax?

NO

5. Do the proposed amendments affect rights, freedoms, or impose obligations, retrospectively?

NO

6. Do the proposed amendments:

(a)   create or amend a strict or absolute liability offence?

NO

(b)   reverse or modify the usual burden of proof for any offence or civil pecuniary penalty proceeding?

NO

7. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a civil or criminal immunity for any person?

NO

8. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a decision-making power to make a determination about a person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law, and that could have a significant impact on those rights, obligations, or interests?

NO

9. Do the proposed amendments create or amend a power to make delegated legislation that could amend an Act, define the meaning of a term in an Act, or grant an exemption from an Act or delegated legislation?

NO

10. Do the proposed amendments create or amend any other powers to make delegated legislation?

YES

Stopping plan making processes

The RMA requires councils to undertake 10-year reviews of their plans and regional policy statements and implement the national planning standards. Councils may also amend their plans using the process set out in Schedule 1 of the RMA at any time. The Amendment paper proposes to stop plan and policy statement reviews and change processes from progressing in the period leading up to the replacement of the RMA. To ensure important work – such as changes related to natural hazards or giving effect to Treaty settlement obligations – can continue, the proposal introduces an exemption pathway.

The proposal overrides existing RMA provisions by suspending requirements for councils to undertake part of their statutory functions until 31 December 2027. RMA plan processes are time intensive, and any process started between now and 2027, when RMA replacement legislation will be in force, may not be completed in time to have any effect on the system, and may be incompatible with the new system.

This proposal is a transitional measure that enables more efficient use of council time and resources ahead of the transition to the new system.

Ministerial regulation making power to modify or remove plan provisions

The amendments propose a regulation making power for the Minister to modify or remove plan provisions in regional policy statements, regional plans or district plans.

Refer to ‘Appendix: Further Information Relating to Significant Legislative Features’ for information on the Ministerial regulation making power to modify or remove plan provisions.

11. Do the proposed amendments contain any provisions (other than those noted above) that are unusual or call for special comment?

YES

Removing heritage protection for Gordon Wilson Flats

The Amendment paper proposes the Wellington City operative and proposed District Plans be amended by the primary legislation. The policy intent is to direct Wellington City Council to remove any heritage protection provisions for Gordon Wilson Flats and ensure that there are no heritage protections that restrict the demolition of the building.

Amending plans through primary legislation departs from standard practice under the Resource Management Act. Usually, under the RMA, the Minister for the Environment directs any amendment to local plans using national direction.  

This is an isolated case of central government exercising its powers to direct how a single heritage scheduled building should be managed, which may create a precedent for the management of heritage buildings in a similar condition, or further bespoke changes to district plans.

Amendments to the Regional Plan: Water for Otago

The Amendment Paper proposes to amend the Regional Plan: Water for Otago through primary legislation to:

·         Extend the expiry date on specified water permits to ensure that those consents will expire after new plan provisions are made operative; and

·         Amend relevant Chapter 10A provisions of the Regional Plan: Water for Otago so that where a consent holder chooses to replace an existing permit or someone applies for a new permit, they are subject to the same short term consent duration but have the benefit of a controlled activity pathway; and

·         Prevent certain provisions of the Regional Plan: Water for Otago that relate to rural diffuse discharges from having legal effect.

Regional plans are usually amended through processes outlined in the Resource Management Act 1991. The processes generally include public notification, an opportunity for submissions, public hearings, and appeals before a final decision is made.

Amending a regional plan through primary legislation may frustrate the process, whereby plan provisions have been developed through consultation with communities and other stakeholders through statutory processes.

Marine Aquaculture: Constraining council ability to review consent conditions for marine farmers

The Amendment Paper proposes constraining consent authorities’ (councils’) ability to use section 128 of the RMA to review consents extended under the Resource Management (Extended Duration of Coastal Permits for Marine Farms) Amendment Act 2024 (extended Duration Act), for six years from when the Extended Duration Act came into effect (3 September 2024), except where:

a.     a review could be undertaken to implement relevant national environmental standards or national planning standards made by government, or

b.     a review of one or more conditions is a condition of the coastal permit and the review gives effect to an adaptive management approach.

This constraint does not limit a review where it is required by a Court order when a person is convicted of an offence. The Amendment paper also proposes extending the use of the bespoke review process for consents extended under the Extended Duration Act for six years from when the Act came into effect (3 September 2024).