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August 17, 2023
Spatial Planning Act simplifies treaty settlements
Claudette Hauiti
Posted On August 17, 2023
Download AudioEnvironment Minister David Parker says a Bill which passed yesterday will replace some of the fine print that’s going in to treaty settlements.
The Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Bill is one of a set of legislation which will replace the beleaguered Resource Management Act.
Mr Parker says it cuts red tape and will deliver lower costs and shorter approval times for housing and infrastructure projects.
There’s new mechanisms for environmental protection, national standards, and a streamlined approach to including the appropriate hapu and iwi in consent processes.
“One of the reasons we have had so many bespoke agreements and treaty settlements relating to resource management was that the RMA was not working with regards to those outcomes so we had all these separate agreements in treaty settlements. This to a certain extent will rationalise those in the future. We’re upholding all those settlement agreements but we get more efficient outcomes,” Minister Parker says.
The new Bill allows claimants and councils faster access to appropriate hapū and iwi when seeking consent support.
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