RMA shake-up needed to fix late consents

Changes in law and practice are needed to address the record number of late resource consents, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith said today.

Dr Smith today released the two-yearly report on Local Authorities administration of the Resource Management Act.

“This report tells a sorry story of delay, frustration and unnecessary costs for more than 16,000 homeowners, businesses and farmers whose consents last year were not processed within the legal timeframes,” Dr Smith said.

“This problem has been ignored and got progressively worse over the past decade increasing from 18% to 31%, despite a nine-fold increase from 3% to 28% in consents where Councils granted themselves a 20-day extension.”

Dr Smith this morning presented the report with officials to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee considering the Resource Management Amendment Bill.

“The Bill is about simplifying the consent process and providing incentives for Councils to improve their consenting timeframes. The two-yearly report shows we need to strengthen these proposals to ensure better performance.

“The wide variation in the performance of Councils shows that practice can be substantially improved. Eight councils who are breaching the law more often than they are complying are receiving a letter from me seeking improvements. I have also written to the 25 councils with 90% or better compliance commending them on their performance.

“I also want to commend Councils for the improvement in the proportion of consents being monitored – that is up to 79%, and for the 84% level of compliance with consent conditions which is a record high.

“The efficient processing of resource consents is critical to lifting productivity and the creation of new jobs. This report is a wake-up call that significant improvement is required.”

Report is available at: http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/annual-survey/2007-2008/