EMA pushes for legislative reform of RMA

Confirmation a bill has been introduced to Parliament to overhaul the Resource Management Act has been hailed as step in the right direction, by the EMA.

“More than 35% of our members say the current legislation is a handbrake to their economic performance and growth, as it weighs them down with unnecessary bureaucracy,” says Kim Campbell, CEO, EMA.

“This new piece of legislation deals to some of those WOMADs (Weapons of Mass Administrative Delay).

“We have advocated long and hard for reform of the RMA, and congratulate the Minister on moving this along. Many of our members in the construction industry will welcome the idea of national standards and consistent application that a template approach to consents will bring.

“We wholeheartedly encourage our members to have their say in relation to this bill.

“However, this bill is more about streamlining the cumbersome planning processes and tidying up some of the logistics around issuing consents and does not deal with the fundamental reform we want to see.

“We do understand the Government is hamstrung in this regard, as it does not have full support of its partners nor the opposition to address this fundamental change.

“The RMA has been amended 176 times since 1991, and yet the tension of having environmental and planning law tied together remains unresolved. This bill, still fails to address significant issues such as the interaction of the RMA with other key planning legislation, especially the Land Transport Management Act and Local Government Act.

We also look forward to the results of the recently announced Productivity Commission review of urban planning.

ENDS

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