26 May 2015

Parliament missing in action on RMA reform

BusinessNZ says Parliament is missing another opportunity to fix the Resource Management Act.

Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said recent indications of ‘no change’ to sections 6 and 7 of the Act means it is now clear that after six years Parliament is incapable of delivering anything more than the lowest common denominator – process changes.

“The RMA is directionless. It has been amended so many times since its passage into law that it is now unclear what Parliament wants it to do.

“The question is not whether certain sections should be merged or amended, but what the Act is trying to achieve.

“Unsurprisingly, even the courts are confused – with recent case law contradicting earlier decisions.

“Its lack of clarity has led to poor implementation by local government and unnecessary costs and uncertainty for the rest of us.

“The need for fundamental reform of the law is desperate.

“Business will welcome process changes to the RMA but these alone won’t help grow investment, jobs and the economy.

“If Parliament can’t place greater faith in business and local communities to increase economic activity while protecting the environment, greater reliance on central direction may be required.

“Changes to the Act will be assessed by business to see if they focus on what is strategically important and deliver better quality decisions.”

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