New legislation has been introduced to parliament to remove red tape and help the recovery of the regions affected by Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle: the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill (the Bill). At it's heart, the Bill recognises it may not be possible to effectively and efficiently manage the impacts of extreme weather events, while simultaneously complying with RMA planning and regulatory requirements or meet timeframes for obtaining retrospective consents.

The omnibus Bill is similar to legislation passed after the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes and will assist both landowners and councils by easing the administrative burden of applying for consents to undertake emergency, remedial and preventative works.

It will apply to Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay regions, as well as the Districts of Tararua, Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa. A summary of the proposed changes to the RMA is set out below.

Changes to provisions affecting Councils

After an extreme weather event or disaster, Council staff are usually required to enter private property to carry out emergency works. Under the RMA, Council staff must identify themselves and inform the occupier of the place of entry and the reasons for it. This can be problematic if properties are not occupied or the occupiers cannot be located quickly.

Under the Bill, this requirement is relaxed so that staff can enter the property, leave a notice in a prominent place with the reason for entry and then contact the owner via the Council's rates database to advise of the emergency works.

The Bill also extends administrative deadlines that could otherwise prove unworkable for councils, network utility operators or lifeline utilities. Where emergency works are undertaken that would ordinarily require resource consent, the timeframe to give notice to the local authority would be extended to 100 working days from the current seven working days. The timeframe for making applications for retrospective resource consents would also be extended to 160 working days from the current 20.

Rural Landowners and Occupiers

The Bill would also provide targeted help to rural landowners and occupiers, empowering rural landowners and occupiers to undertake preventative or remedial activities to mitigate loss, injury or damage, without a resource consent. These works are deemed to be permitted activities under the RMA, meaning no subsequent retrospective consent would be required. The only caveat is if the activity is prohibited under relevant district or regional plans, national environmental standards, or regulations, it remains prohibited.

Anyone who uses the new powers to undertake works must give notice to the local authority within 60 working days of undertaking the activity. If written notice is not given to the council, the activity loses its 'permitted' status, and landowners could face enforcement action.

This pathway is only available to rural landowners up to 1 October 2023. After that date resource consent will once again be required for activities that breach the local authority plan rules. That said, some conversation has already risen from impacted communities around the need to extend the timeframe to allow for the ground to dry out.

Furthermore, the Bill expressly prevents any person other than the relevant local authority taking enforcement action against rural landowners that use the Bill’s powers. This prevents neighbours or environmental groups from complaining about works that are carried out as a permitted activity including where they might be noisy or generate adverse effects on the environment.

In summary
With the state of national emergency for Te Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke's Bay regions now over, this Bill provides legal certainty for those affected. It is a pragmatic response from the Government to regions that are struggling not only with the recovery from severe weather events but also the paperwork that comes with it.