The Government has unveiled its mega-overhaul of New Zealand’s planning system in a radical but long-awaited shift, which it hopes will become active in 2029.
The proposed sweeping new rules will affect the way all buildings and infrastructure are planned, and mean big changes for anyone doing work needing a consent.
Up to 22,000 or 46% of consent and permit applications could be eliminated each year as a result of the change, the Government has claimed.
Replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA) will be one of the most significant packages of reform carried out by the current National-led coalition government.
As one example of a change under the proposed new system, homeowners generally won’t need consent for things that only affect their own property, such as decks, garages or home extensions, according to a government fact sheet.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said existing law, which is critical to the planning and consenting system, has failed and requires replacement.
He said the new regime would be premised on enhancing private property rights and liberal market economies. It also delivered on the National-ACT coalition agreement.
Bishop said: “Our reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to free ourselves from a millstone that has weighed on both our economy and our environment.”
The bills were to be introduced to Parliament today, and the Government aimed to pass them into law in 2026, with a new system proposed to be fully operational from 2029.
According to the Government, these are the key changes:
- Fewer, simpler consents: fewer activity categories, with low-impact activities no longer requiring consent.
- Fewer, faster plans: More than 100 existing plans will be reduced to 17 regional combined plans that bring together spatial, land use and natural environment planning in one place, “making it easier for New Zealanders to know what they can do with their property”.
- Spatial planning: Thirty-year regional spatial plans to identify growth areas, infrastructure corridors and areas needing protection.
- Clearer direction nationally: “More consistency through nationally set policy direction will leave less up for debate,” the Government said.
- A more proportionate system: “All consent conditions must be necessary and proportionate, reducing red tape. Positive effects of development must be taken into account.”
- More standardisation: Planned national standards on zoning and common activities “will cut red tape and speed up the system”.
- Consultation “only where it matters”: Clarity about who must be consulted and when – including with iwi.
- Regulatory relief: Councils are to “provide practical relief mechanisms when imposing restrictions such as heritage protections and significant natural areas”.
- Faster conflict resolution: “The establishment of a Planning Tribunal will provide a low-cost, fast way of resolving simple conflicts.”
- Better environmental protection: Enable community decision making over water quality and improve the efficient use of resources.”We will be centralising responsibility for enforcement to deliver it more consistently.”
‘Easier to renovate a house, build a deck or garage’
More types of building and renovation activities will be allowed by default under the proposed system, with fewer things councils can consider when making decisions.
The changes would make it easier to do things such as to “renovate a house, build a deck or garage or add another storey – often without the need for a resource consent.”
There would also be “simple and consistent rules that make it easier to renovate, extend or build, with fewer consents needed for everyday projects.”
According to the Government, that would mean:
- No need for consent for things that affect only your own property, “like the layout of your house, balconies or private outdoor space.”
- Councils can’t stop your project “just because it affects someone’s sense of amenity only impacts, like noise, shading or flood risk that affect neighbours or the wider area will matter for consents”.
- Heritage protection will focus on “places of genuine heritage value while giving families the flexibility to adapt their homes for modern life”.
The new system will also consolidate more than 1100 different planning zones and rules currently used across New Zealand councils into a standardised set applied nationwide.
“These zones will set out rules about how high you can build, how much of your land your project can cover, as well things like height, noise, vibration and sunlight. They also mean it will be easier to use the same house plans across different parts of the country.”
When consents were still needed, the process would be faster and less expensive, with clearer rules about what information must be provided.
The new system would also simplify activity categories from six under the RMA to four: Permitted, restricted discretionary, discretionary and prohibited.
More activities wouldbe permitted without needing a consent or permit, particularly those with less-than-minor adverse effects.
‘Regulatory relief’ mechanism
Councils will be forced to compensate property owners when planning rules significantly restrict how they can use their land under a new “regulatory relief” framework.
A council must provide for regulatory relief when a proposed plan includes certain kinds of rules that are “likely to significantly impact a landowner’s reasonable use of their land”.
“Rules that trigger relief are limited to heritage, outstanding landscapes or features, sites of significance to Māori, and matters high in natural character.”
Relief options could include cash; rate or fee reductions; extra development rights; land swaps; or targeted grants.
Councils must justify applying protections to each property, then develop a relief framework setting out what affected landowners are entitled to based on the impact on their land.
Property rights ‘at the core’
Parliamentary under-secretary and ACT minister Simon Court said the reforms represented a “monumental shift” by putting property rights “at the core”.
“The creeping excesses of the RMA have eroded Kiwis’ property rights and suffocated our number 8 wire culture in the process – a culture we must revive.”
The new system will reduce more than 100 existing plans to 17 regional combined plans that bring together spatial, land use and natural environment planning.
Court added: “The regulatory relief mechanism will force councils to confront the costs of many restrictions on private property that for too long have been costless to them.
“If they want to impose significant restrictions, they must justify them, provide relief to the landowners, and convince their ratepayers the public benefit warrants it.
“A new Planning Tribunal will drive further accountability by providing a low-cost clearing house for people to challenge old council habits and overreach – no more unchecked information requests, no more disproportionate consent conditions.
“All of this sits within a slimmer system with less to do, less scope for Tom, Dick and Harry to insert themselves into consent processes that don’t affect them, and a reclaimed freedom for people enjoy their property.”
Two new bills with ‘clear roles’
The new planning system would be set out in two new bills.
The senior minister spoke to Q+A’s Jack Tame. (Source: Q and A)
Once passed, these will replace the current RMA.
The Planning Bill would lay out the framework for how land can be used and developed, while the Natural Environment Bill would be focused on managing the use of natural resources and protecting the environment.
The new planning system will require councils to consider the positive effects of development when making decisions, a major shift from the RMA.
Transition and timeline
The Government aims to pass the bills into law in 2026.
National policy direction would be finalised within nine months of the bills becoming law, with the full system expected to be operational by 2029.
There were to be transitional arrangements for existing resource consent holders, with all consents under the RMA extended until at least mid-2031.
Consent holders will have the flexibility to either apply for replacement consents under a transitional regime from mid-2026 or wait until the new planning system is in place.
The public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes through the select committee submissions process in the new year.
There would also be a submissions process on national policy direction.
