Public Works Amendment Bill aims to modernise how government works

The Public Works Amendment Bill (Bill) proposes a significant set of changes to the Public Works Act 1981 (Act), with the objective of modernising the land acquisition and compensation framework that supports public infrastructure delivery.

The Bill was introduced on 24 November 2025 and referred to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee under urgency on 9 December 2025. The five main topics of amendment are land acquisitions, compensation, relocation of infrastructure, Transpower provisions, and emergency recovery.

While the Committee recommended the Bill be passed with amendments, concern has been raised regarding limitations on objection rights and the compulsory acquisition of Māori land without the consent of owners.

Streamlined land acquisition

The Act requires the Crown or a local authority to first attempt to purchase land by agreement before resorting to compulsory acquisition. The Bill reforms this process by requiring that landowners receive clearer information upfront. Agencies must provide an “invitation to sell” to the landowner, accompanied by a registered valuation estimate for the value of the land itself, details about the public work, why their land is required, and other compensation available. Good faith negotiations with the landowner must then follow.

The Bill also enables multiple agencies to coordinate land acquisition for “combined projects”. These are interconnected public works requiring land from the same area. These provisions aim to reduce duplication and the cumulative burden on affected landowners.

Finally, the Bill also recognises that not all infrastructure requires full land ownership and that the appropriate rights may be obtained through lesser interests such as .

What new compensation will landowners receive?

The most significant change here is the introduction of incentive payments. If a landowner agrees to sell before a notice of intention to take is issued, they will receive additional compensation equal to 10% of the total land value (subject to a floor of $5,000 and a cap of $100,000).

The Committee recommended several clarifications and amendments to this framework, namely that:

• owners should only be entitled to this incentive payment when agreement is reached on all property required;
• if an agency came back for more land after an agreement had been reached, the owner would be entitled to further compensation; and
• land acquired for a combined project that includes a critical infrastructure project should be eligible for compensation at the higher ‘critical infrastructure’ rate.

The Committee also recommended removing a proposed requirement for compensation funds to be paid to Public Trust if a landowner did not accept an offer within three months, on the basis that fees could erode the compensation’s value.

New compensation provisions are also introduced for dwellings on Māori freehold land.

How will infrastructure relocation be handled?

When a public work requires land where existing infrastructure exists, that infrastructure may need to be physically relocated. The Bill introduces a new framework allowing the acquiring authority to take land for relocation of the infrastructure as if it were part of the public work. “Relocate” in this bill expressly includes relocating and undertaking improvements in the process.

The Committee recommended that unless there is a separate designation for the relocated infrastructure, alternative sites should be able to be considered for its new location, as alternatives would not have been assessed during the designation process for the primary work.

Transpower’s new toolkit

Part 2B of the Act enables Transpower to initiate the land acquisition process directly, without first applying to the Minister for Land Information.

The Committee recommended the Minister retain the ability to begin the standard compulsory acquisition process for Transpower projects. In addition, it was recommended that Transpower should be able to enter land for surveys and investigation where the Minister has authorised it and Transpower has initiated the processes under the Act.

Other network utility operators also asked for similar powers, but the Committee declined, noting Transpower’s unique position as the national grid owner.

Improved emergency powers

Following the Canterbury earthquakes and Cyclone Gabrielle, the standard emergency response processes of the Act proved too slow and bespoke legislation had to be passed under urgency. The Bill proposes a new Part 2C containing emergency land-acquisition powers activated by an Order in Council. Under this process:

• the standard Environment Court objection hearing is replaced by a ministerial submissions process;
• the negotiation period is reduced from three months to one month; and
• there is no right to an oral hearing.

However, protected Māori land is expressly excluded from the emergency taking process.

The Committee recommended tightening the review period for these Orders in Council from five years to three years. It also recommended that Part 2C apply retrospectively to emergencies since 24 November 2025 to include the January 2026 severe weather.

Where do we go from here?

The Bill signals a clear policy direction that infrastructure delivery is to be prioritised, speeding up processes by providing increased compensation incentives.

For landowners, the trade-off is improved compensation in exchange for narrower objection rights. For councils and agencies, these reforms should reduce delays and expedite cross-agency projects and emergency recovery.

The recommendations made by the Committee are generally either expansions on the Bill’s objectives or clarifications where the Committee considered the drafting left ambiguity.

If you have any questions about these recommendations, the Act or the Bill, please reach out to one of our experts.

Fiona McLeod, Special Counsel  – Wynn Williams Environment & Planning team

Trent Hall, Associate – Wynn Williams Environment & Planning team