Wednesday, 15 September, 2004
Baldock welcomes proposed RMA changes
United Future's Larry Baldock today welcomed the improved processes brought about by the proposed amendments to the
Resource Management Act announced by the Government today.
"United Future has hugely committed itself to constructively amending the RMA, and again we have steps in the right
direction for a crucial piece of legislation," Mr Baldock, United Future's environment spokesman, said.
"What is happening is the handling and addressing of a matter of national importance in a pragmatic way, and while there
will inevitably be changes and fine tuning during the select committee process, we are satisfied that the proposed
changes are heading in the right direction," he said.
Mr Baldock said a good change that was representative of the overall direction being taken was the fact that resource
consent appeals going before the Environment Court would no longer have to start from the beginning, but would be able
to call on evidence produced earlier, hugely speeding up the process.
ENDS