December 06, 2023
Kickback likely on RMA changes
A former minister expects a significant push back from councils and iwi to the coalition Government’s plan to ditch Labour’s replacement for the Resource Management Act.
National says the Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Act increases bureaucracy, it’s legally complex and it removes local decision-making.
Peeni Henare says as associate environment minister he worked closely with minister David Parker to ensure the law was robust and widely understood.
“We worked very closely with iwi, me alongside Minister Parker to bring iwi into the discussion about resource consent, about resource management in our regions and ultimately it is managed by local places like our local government and our iwi and I think the Government is going to find a big shock when they get the kickback,” he says.