Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown says it’ll be important to carefully examining the details of the new Resource Management Act (RMA) legislation.
The Government has revealed sweeping changes to the RMA with a plan to scrap the act completely and replace it with three new pieces of legislation.
That would see 100 RMA plans in force around the country reduced to just 15 regional ones, aimed at speeding up the time it takes to gain resource consent for housing and major infrastructure.
It’s also predicted to slash the cost of gaining consent by 19 per cent, or $149 million a year.
“Many parties, from councils to developers and from planners to environmentalists, have become very frustrated with the time, cost, uncertainty and impact on the environment of getting a resource consent under the RMA,” Brown said.
“So, in that light, (the) council welcomes the review.
“Whether the new regime will solve the problems of the RMA or not, and exactly how council and the community will be impacted is not clear, and in reality, only time will really tell and hopefully the claimed benefits will materialise.”
An Environment Canterbury spokesperson said it was too early to understand the impacts the changes would have on ECan’s work.
“Reform of the RMA is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and we are committed to playing our part in making reform a success.
“There is a lot to like about the new Natural and Built Environments Act and Strategic Planning Act, and we look forward to considering this important legislation in detail over the coming weeks.”

• By Jonathan Leask