Business Urges New Broom Councils To Sweep Away Costly Consent Delays

Business leaders today congratulated local government politicians on their election to office and urged them to give priority to speeding up resource consents.

The Business Council for Sustainable Development says it would like to see all local authorities appoint independent commissioners to hear consent applications under the Resource Management Act.

And it asks new councils to set a target for processing building consents under the Building Act.

"Those would be things the business community would most appreciate," the Business Council's Chief Executive, Peter Neilson, said today.

A fresh broom immediately brushed through local government to improve resource and building consent issuing performance will deliver immediate benefits to local businesses and communities.

The Business Council, whose 60 member companies' annual sales equate to about 34% of the country's gross domestic product, has been critical of local government performance in this area and also called for other reforms and practices which will ensure the environment and people are protected while decisions are reached more quickly.

The country's 85 local authorities are deciding only 73% of building consent applications within the 20-day statutory time, down 4% in the past two years.

Poorly performing councils should be made to report to the Ministry for the Environment every six months until they process 80% of building consent applications on time. In the main centres authorities like Manukau City are processing as few as 32.68% of applications on time. In the biggest city, Auckland, on-time performance is only 52.07%. Yet other authorities, including those in Porirua, Manawatu, Stratford, Otorohanga, and the Hawkes Bay, Horizons and Taranaki regional councils are processing applications 99% to 100% on time. Other bigger cities are also performing on time 80% or better: Christchurch (87.7%), Dunedin (97.27%), Hamilton (96.86%) and Wellington (80.5%).

The Business Council says local authorities who do not issue consents under the Building Act within the 20 day statutory timeframe, should forego resource consent fees.

The Business Council says the Government also needs to allow applicants and objectors to resource consents access to independent commissioners as of right.

"We need to ensure people have a fair chance to have their case heard but at the same time ensure applications are not unnecessarily delayed," Mr Neilson says.

"New councillors now have a chance to stop the delays, do away with a source of huge frustration, and avoid a vast and unnecessary cost being imposed on their local businesses and communities."

Ends

The Business Council believes sustainable businesses are profitable, contribute to social progress and ecological balance and protect New Zealand's quality of life. The Business Council's 60 members jointly employ more than 60,000 people in managing resources, manufacturing, retailing and the service sector. Members contribute annual sales of $44 billion to the economy, equivalent to 34% of GDP. The Business Council runs a national online survey panel, ShapeNZ, to allow public input on major issues. The panel is built from purchased lists and is representative of the population as a whole, compared with the 2006 census. ShapeNZ members register and provide demographic and previous party vote information to ensure results can be accurately weighted to reflect the New Zealand population. Registration is also available at www.shapenz.org.nz

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