Immediate RMA Reform Needed To Avoid Quarry Material Shortages

The quarry industry warns of shortages and rising prices of foundation materials for housing and infrastructure due to at least two more years of delays in obtaining consents under the Government’s RMA reforms.

Aggregate and Quarry Association (AQA) CEO Wayne Scott says while quarries support the intent of yesterday’s announcements, it is totally unacceptable to wait until 2027 at the earliest to get any meaningful change in resource consenting.

He says Government Ministers were told upon taking office that two existing National Policy Statements had drafting flaws stopping quarries from getting consents on land needed to supply the rock, aggregate and sand needed for homes and roads. Over one-third of existing quarries across New Zealand are impacted by the NPS Highly Productive Land.

"We were told the problems with the flaws in the Highly Productive Land and Indigenous Bio-diversity national policy statements would be fixed," says Wayne Scott.

"Yesterday’s announcements show little intent from the Government to address these in a timely manner."

He says Ministers appear to believe that introducing the two new RMA bills before the end of the year - and passing them before the 2026 election - will solve all resource consenting and planning issues.

"The new Natural Environment and Planning Acts will include National Policy Statements and presumably any fixes, then there will be a process for each region to develop a regulatory plan. That’s great but we need action now not in 2027 at the earliest."

Wayne Scott says the Government has been repeatedly advised that quarries around much of the country are at capacity and its big infrastructure and housing agenda will soon exceed supply.

"There may be a view that the Fast-track Approvals Act would sort out issues for quarries. That legislation is very welcome but it’s only going to apply to eight out of a thousand active quarries around New Zealand. "

He says all other quarries wanting to expand or develop a new site will have to do so under an RMA reform process that will take some years to bed in. In the interim, many will face constraints from two flawed National Policy Statements which two successive Governments promised to fix and both have failed to do so.

"Quarries are already stretched to meet supply and costs can now only rise. We need urgent attention to resource consenting constraints now," says Wayne Scott.

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