Water cooler chat: what you need to know about proposed RMA reform

On 23 August 2023, the previous attempt to repeal and replace the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) became law.  It lasted a mere 122 days before it was repealed by the National-led Coalition Government on 23 December 2023, just in time for Christmas.

That repeal was the first phase of a three-phase process to reform the resource management system.  Phase two involved targeted changes to the existing system, including the introduction of the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 and three other acts with changes relating to marine farming, freshwater and resource consenting, and amendments to national direction.

The long-awaited third phase was released on 9 December 2025.  Two pieces of legislation will replace the RMA:

• the Planning Act that enables development and regulates land use; and
• the Natural Environment Act that manages resource impacts and protects the environment.

The key points emphasised at the launch were:

1. Fewer, simpler consents: fewer activity categories, with low-impact activities no longer requiring consent.
2. 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.
3. Spatial planning: 30-year regional spatial plans to identify growth areas, infrastructure corridors and areas needing protection.
4. Clearer direction nationally: more consistency through nationally set policy direction will leave less up for debate.
5. A more proportionate system: all consent conditions must be necessary and proportionate, reducing red tape. Positive effects of development must be taken into account.
6. More standardization: planned national standards on zoning and common activities will cut red tape and speed up the system.
7. Consultation only where it matters: clarity about who must be consulted and when, including with iwi.
8. Regulatory relief: councils must provide practical relief mechanisms when imposing restrictions such as heritage protections and significant natural areas.
9. Faster conflict resolution: the establishment of a Planning Tribunal will provide a low cost, fast way of resolving simple conflicts.
10. Better environmental protection: enable community decision-making over water quality and improve the efficient use of resources, and centralise responsibility for enforcement to deliver it more consistently.

Extension granted for some existing consents

For those who have been following the third phase, none of this will come as a surprise.  However, there was one unexpected twist – to support the transition to the new regime, the Government has urgently passed legislation to extend the term of existing resource consents that are scheduled to expire in the short term. The Resource Management (Duration of Consents) Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament on 9 December 2025 and passed its third reading in the morning of 10 December 2025.  The effect is that resource consents that are due to expire before 31 December 2027 are now extended to that date (with limited exceptions).  The intent is to avoid costly and time-consuming resource consenting while the new legislation is passed.

Commentary

Turning back to the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill, at around 750 pages in total the bills provide plenty of reading for resource management practitioners.  Three quick takes we have on the proposed system are:

• Decisions by central Government will be critical to the success of the framework. The Government has an even more active role in shaping and overseeing the new system than the RMA.  The Minister for the Environment will be responsible for issuing national policy direction (NPD) and setting minimum environmental limits, as well as monitoring system performance of the new legislation.  The Minister also has broad powers to intervene, including to direct territorial authorities to prepare a plan or plan change to address a specific issue.  The NPD has been hailed as a solution to voluminous and conflicting objectives and policies – but its success will depend on how the NPD is drafted and implemented.
• A key feature of the legislation is narrowing the focus of the resource management system. Certain effects would be expressly outside the scope of the bills, including internal and external layout of buildings, trade competition, financial viability, visual amenity, views from private property, precedent effects or effects that are dealt with under other legislation.  Less than minor effects will no longer be of concern, unless they contribute to a cumulative effect.  It is easy to see that this will resolve some common issues and arguments that occur under the RMA, but the real narrowing of the system will come from the proposed “funnel” of decision-making, that focuses issues through planning and consenting processes.
• The new proposal for “regulatory relief” is a hot topic. If rules in plans have a significant impact on private land, councils will be required to provide a framework for regulatory relief.  Significant impacts might arise from restrictions to protect significant ecological areas, outstanding natural landscapes, or sites of significance to Māori.  The bills require councils to design their own regulatory relief framework, which may include relief such as monetary payments, rates remissions, no-fee consenting, transferrable development rights or land swaps.  The impact of these provisions won’t be known until councils begin preparing new plans and need to consider the trade-off between provisions that may have a significant impact on private land and the cost of regulatory relief.  The regulatory relief provisions will affect different parts of the country differently, with those areas with greater retained ecological value or outstanding landscapes more affected than areas where those values have already been lost.

Ultimately, New Zealand will benefit most if the new system is both workable and enduring – it would be a poor outcome if the bills were to pass, only to be repealed again if there is a change of Government.  The pendulum effect we have seen in recent years in the RMA system has been a major cause of uncertainty, which has affected planning and consenting, as well as business confidence.

As with any proposal to replace the entire resource management system, the bills are complex and the devil will be in the detail.  However, now is the best time to have some influence.  The period for submissions will soon open, and anyone who interfaces with the resource management system should consider the bills and make a submission.  A key point we are thinking about is each bill’s “goals” – these are foundational principles that will echo through the system.  Should these be amended, is anything missing or should anything be deleted?

Wynn Williams will be publishing a series of updates on the bills and RMA reform, but if you have any questions, please feel free to contact our specialist local government and environment team.

Mike Doesburg, Partner – Wynn Williams Environment & Planning team

Emma Tod, Associate, Wynn Williams Environment & Planning team