The Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill have passed their third readings, setting New Zealand on the path towards its biggest resource management reform in more than three decades.
However, the Resource Management Act doesn’t disappear overnight.
Instead, New Zealand is heading into a multi-year transition where the RMA will continue to govern consenting while elements of the new system progressively come into effect. Councils will also begin preparing the spatial and combined regional plans that will ultimately underpin the replacement system.
For developers and property owners, that means some changes will be felt relatively quickly, while others are still several years away.
So what changes first, what comes later, and what could it mean in practice?
One month after Royal Assent
The first significant milestone comes one month after the new legislation receives Royal Assent.
At that point, the RMA will remain in force, but a number of amendments to the existing consenting system will take effect. These include new limits on the effects councils can consider, additional procedural principles and requirements to have regard to initial national standards.
One of the most immediate changes will be the introduction of a new section 104(1A) into the RMA.
This will narrow the effects councils can consider when assessing district land use activities.
For residential activities, councils will generally be required to disregard effects relating to:
• the area of glazing
• the presence or absence of balconies
• outdoor living space
• internal layout
• the size of a residential unit
• the size of landscaped areas, except where this relates to permeability.
These exclusions do not apply where the effects relate to the protection of historic heritage.
Effects relating to trade competitors, retail distribution, a lack of demand for a project or the fact that it is not financially viable, the type of residents and views from private property will also be outside the scope of consideration.
For applicants, that's a tangible change. Some effects that can currently be considered when assessing district land use activities will need to be disregarded once the transitional provisions take effect.
The existing plans aren't disappearing at the same time
This is where the transition becomes more complicated.
Existing plans and provisions will remain part of everyday consenting while councils progressively prepare for the new system.
That creates a period where planners will be working with existing provisions while also needing to understand the limits and intent established by the new legislation. We expect questions of interpretation to emerge as councils and practitioners work through how those two frameworks interact in practice.
How different councils approach that task may also vary.
That makes early advice particularly important. Understanding which provisions remain relevant, which effects can still be considered and which new requirements apply will increasingly become part of assessing a site's development pathway.
A new generation of plans will follow
Alongside the transitional consenting system, work will begin on the planning framework that will eventually replace the RMA system.
Regional Spatial Plans will play a significant role.
These are intended to establish a long-term strategic direction of more than 30 years and identify and broadly map matters including priority areas for growth and change, significant existing and future infrastructure, constraints on land use and development, and priority locations for climate change adaptation planning.
Each region will ultimately have a combined plan comprising its Regional Spatial Plan, Natural Environment Plan and relevant Land Use Plans.For landowners and developers, these processes will be worth watching closely. Decisions made through spatial planning could have long-term implications for where growth is enabled, where infrastructure investment is prioritised and where constraints on development are identified.
The eventual system will narrow the effects considered further
The changes introduced during the transition are only part of the picture.
Under the eventual new system, the range of effects considered through planning and consenting is intended to narrow further.
These include matters relating to:
• internal and external building layout where its effects remain within the site
• type of residents
• effects on trade competition
• views from private property
• retail distribution effects
• demand or financial viability
• precedent
• character, appearance and aesthetic qualities
• landscape effects except in relation to outstanding landscapes and certain areas of high natural character
• certain land-use effects already dealt with under other legislation, with exceptions including natural hazards and contaminated land.
The overall intent is a system with more national direction, less local variation, fewer effects within scope and reduced consenting requirements. However, much of the detail still needs to be developed through national direction and the new planning documents.
What does this mean if you're considering development?
The key point is that there isn't one date when the old system stops and the new one begins.
Different parts of the reform will take effect at different stages, and the date an application is lodged may become particularly important during the transition. The transitional period and application lodgement dates are issues practitioners will need to watch closely.
For anyone considering subdivision or development, that makes understanding both the current planning framework and the changes ahead increasingly important.
It may also create opportunities. A narrower range of effects and greater national consistency are intended to simplify parts of the system, but getting from today's RMA framework to that future system will take time.
Collaboration will matter through the transition
There will inevitably be questions about how new requirements should be interpreted and applied, particularly before existing plans have been replaced.
However, that also creates an opportunity for councils, private-sector planners, developers and other specialists to share knowledge, test interpretations and work through practical solutions together.
Close collaboration between the public and private sectors will be important in navigating the transition and reducing the risk of issues unnecessarily escalating into formal legal processes.
The next few years won’t just be about waiting for a new planning system to arrive, they'll be about understanding each stage of the change and making informed development decisions while the system itself is evolving.
CKL's planning team will continue working through the detail as it emerges, sharing what we learn and helping clients understand what the changes mean for their land and development plans.
