Hancock’s “zombie” projects are those that have been rejected by courts but may now be dredged up again under fast-track, meaning politicians will have power over the courts.
“There’s worry that some of these projects which people have fought for years and years… and thought they’d won could come back from the dead,” she said.
But developers and infrastructure industry players said the system is broken and more efficient legislation will help fix it without adverse impact to the environment.
The legislation is at the Select Committee stage after submissions closed on April 19. If it goes through in its current form, the three ministers – Jones, Simeon Brown and Chris Bishop – will have absolute final say on some big projects.
The new law would sit over a range of existing acts and regulations and would mean an application would need to go through one process for approval on a project instead of potentially several consents under the existing system.
Project owners would apply to the three ministers for access to the fast-track process. The project would then go to an expert panel which will vet the project and make a recommendation to the ministers, who would then decide whether to approve or decline it.
Bishop, the Resource Management Act Minister, calls it a one stop shop that will cut the red tape that can hold up the progress of projects by years. Jones, the Resources Minister repeatedly uses the phrase, “we’re moving from cancelling economics to can-do economics”.
They argue it builds on existing COVID-19 legislation from the previous Labour Government and the three ministers’ executive power is the “safeguard”.