Taituarā – Local Government Professionals Aotearoa welcomes the introduction of the Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill to the House of Representatives.
Download the Natural and Built Environment Bill release statement.
Download the Spatial Planning Bill release statement.
View the progress of the Natural and Built Environment Bill on Parliament's website.
View the progress of the Spatial Planning Bill on Parliament's website.
Aileen Lawrie, Chair of the Taituarā Resource Management Reference Group and member of the Local Government Steering Group (LGSG) noted “these Bills represent the biggest change to our resource management system in over 30 years and present a great opportunity to build a more efficient system that protects the environment and enables development in the right place, at the right time”.
“For a long time planners, councils, and the public have been left to navigate a complex and often contradictory labyrinth of government policy and legislation and a clear, consistent, simple system is what we need. We need to ensure this is what we get.”
“Regional Spatial Strategies have the potential to be a game changer for the sector and our communities.”
“Retaining local voice and accountability in the regionalised system was a key concern for the sector and I am pleased to see the Government has taken up the Local Government Steering Group’s proposal to include Statements of Community Outcomes and Statements of Regional Environmental Outcomes in the Bills.”
Although we are excited that the Bills are finally being introduced to the House, a lot of detail and guidance still needs to be worked through. There is a lot to digest in the 920 odd pages of legislation, and Taituarā will be working with councils to ensure they are able to constructively input into the Select Committee process and ensure the legislation is workable.
Taituarā President, Sanchia Jacobs said “There has been a significant amount of work by the Local Government Steering Group, the Taituarā Resource Management Reference Group and local government staff around the motu. They have been assisting the Ministry for the Environment on the policy design for these Bills within the framework of the Randerson Report and Ministerial decisions for over a year. I would personally like to thank them all for their efforts at a time when local government is under extreme pressure.”
We were disappointed to see Environment Minister David Parker’s recent comments about council planning departments being part of the resource management problem. We know how hard councils work in this area and how important you will be to any transition to a new system. Therefore, we wrote a letter to Minister Parker alongside LGNZ expressing this disappointment.
Overview of the Bills
Read our detailed overview of both Bills here.
Get in touch
The spokespeople for Taituarā on resource management are:
- Sanchia Jacobs, Taituarā President and CEO of Central Otago District Council
- Aileen Lawrie, Taituarā Resource Management Reference Group Chair and CEO of Thames Coromandel District Council