Resource Management Act reform
In principle, we agree that the Resource Management Act (1991) (RMA) needs to be reformed to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
The current reform proposal will, however, lead to more issues rather than making things better.
The RMA is the main piece of legislation that sets out how the environment is managed in a sustainable and planned way. Any reform of New Zealand’s resource management system will therefore impact the way sheep and beef farmers will be able to farm.
The Government intends to replace the RMA through three bills and has sought feedback, although critical information about these bills is still missing.
Further, the Government hasn’t allowed enough time for adequate assessment and feedback of the proposed bills.
It’s yet another example of them trying to do too much, too fast.
The Government needs to hit pause, withdraw the current bills and work with key stakeholders to revise them to ensure we all get the best outcomes.
Sheep and beef farming-specific concerns include: the introduction of a lot of new language and concepts that will lead to years of additional legal process to define; the amount of responsibility and power the Minister for the Environment and central government will have; and the change in district and regional council plan making to regionalised committees and the impact this may have on rural representation in the processes.
There is a lot of concern about the current proposal across business, agriculture, regional councils and some environmental NGOs.