On 3 February 2023, Property Council submitted on the Natural and Built Environment Bill.
Why it matters to our members
The Natural and Built Environment Bill is the closest replacement to the current Resource Management Act and looks to introduce the concept of te Oranga o te Taiao (translating to the health and wellbeing of the environment). While we welcome resource reform, we must ensure that the new legislation strikes the right balance of protecting not only the natural environment, but the built environment.
If we get this wrong, we risk hindering quality development in our cities and regions through legislation that ignores the property ecosystem.
Our view
Property Council supports the Government’s intent to establish a streamlined and faster consenting process, long-term regional spatial planning and certainty for current and future urban development and infrastructure.
However, we continue to strongly oppose the legislative intent to only have central government, local government and iwi representatives on regional planning committees. Private sector representation is vital given than the sector will be expected to implement future development and infrastructure to support growth. We are also concerned that the legislation falls short of its intention to have a joined-up approach from central government and local government.
Overall, there are many aspects of the current drafting that we support. However, we have some concerns on how this will work in practice and have made several recommendations to ensure fair outcomes for all.