Chris Bishop, the Minister for RMA Reform, along with the Ministers for Agriculture and the Environment, has sent clear expectations to all regional and unitary councils to take a pragmatic approach when issuing consents, ahead of the transition to the new planning system.
“Ministers continue to receive concerning reports of councils across the country applying stringent, unnecessary, and burdensome requirements when issuing new consents, particularly for our farmers and growers,” claims Bishop.
“Our country relies on our rural producers. At a time of economic challenges, councils should be doing all they can to unlock economic growth, not stymie it.
“Farmers are not the enemy. Working on the land is not a ‘nice to have’ – it’s vital for our country’s success. Prior to the induction of our new planning system, councils need to recognise that they’ll need to be pragmatic and flexible to ensure our rural economy continues to operate.”
Addressed to Regional Council Chairs and Chief Executives, their letter said; “We continue to hear reports that many resource consent processes are unduly complex, characterised by excessive information requests and conditions that impose unnecessary cost and administrative burden on applicants. These reports are concerning to us, particularly given our clear intention to replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and create a more simplified system.
“We are writing to set clear expectations of you as the local authorities who oversee the use of land, water, and discharges. We expect you to be seeking opportunities to streamline consenting processes, reduce onerous requirements wherever possible, and ease the consenting burden while we get the system changes in place.
“Where appropriate, this will mean exercising discretion available to you under the RMA, which can include extending consenting time frames and working with individual applicants to reach pragmatic solutions.
“We are developing a detailed transition plan for the new planning system, and this will be provided to you shortly after the introduction of the legislation later this year. This will provide you with more certainty on how to manage consenting processes during the transition period to the new system. Until then, we expect you to exercise sensible judgement.”
Noting steps already taken to assist with the transition through key changes in the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Act 2025, the minsters say the burden of extensive and costly planning has already been removed, which allows councils to prepare for the transition into the new planning system.
“We have also introduced a temporary regulation-making power which allows plan provisions to be modified or removed if they unjustifiably restrict development, employment, or economic capacity. This provides an opportunity to fix localised issues. We want to hear from you if you think this power could be used to assist growth and the transition to the new system in your region.”