Government says it will end ‘culture of no’ with sweeping RMA reforms

Tuesday, 9 December 2025

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Kiwis will be able to do far more with the land they own under sweeping planning reforms introduced by the Government today - whether that be building an extension or a wind turbine.

And councils that attempt to stop new development will be forced to compensate some landowners under a controversial regulatory relief regime.

The reforms would replace the much-maligned Resource Management Act (RMA) with two new laws, and almost halve the number of consents required across the system - unlocking an estimated $13.3b in savings over the next 30 years.

Councils will no longer be able to stop new housing or developments for reasons such as the “visual amenity,” “private views,” pressure on neighbouring businesses, or internal matters like the existence of a balcony.

RMA Minister Chris Bishop said these kind of “insane requirements” from councils on things like which way a doorway faces or the colour a house is painted would not be in scope for the new system.

Planners will still be able to consider things such as impact on existing roads and infrastructure on new developments, some limited historical heritage protections will remain, and noise impacts on neighbours.

The reform will change the laws which govern how New Zealanders do almost anything on the land they own.

They will not be allowed to consider the competitive effects on local businesses.

ACT leader David Seymour said the changes would stop allowing “every Tom, Dick, and Henare to say no” to new development.

“We have the best piece of land in the planet, but we have made it too hard to build an affordable life here.”

Councils will be fiscally punished for restricting the use of private land - forced to offer either cash, rates reductions, or other planning capacity when they heavily regulate the use of someone’s land.

The Government is hoping to have the new system in place by 2029 and have prepared a range of transition measures to get the country there - including an automatic extension of consents set to expire until 2031.

The coalition actually reinstated the RMA soon after being elected, repealing a separate replacement system put in place by the last government.

Bishop said the new bills undoubtedly shared some DNA with Labour’s bills but he stood by starting the reform process again.

Two bills, one plan

RMA Minister Chris Bishop announces sweeping RMA reform.

The RMA is being replaced with a 452-page Planning Bill that lays out a framework for how land can be used and a 292-page Natural Environment Bill that is focused on protecting the environment.

Yet local government will need to make combined plans that take both of those bills into account, and strong national direction from central government.

The new laws aim to radically strip back the number of “plans” across the country that set out where and how people can build things, with over 100 district plans and 1175 different zones replaced with about 17 regional combined spatial and environmental plans across the country - one for each region.

While these plans will be developed by local government, each plan will be required to meet national directions from central government.

The Government intends its new regional council replacements to create these plans - boards made up local mayors rather than directly elected councillors.

National standards are aimed at making this far faster with plans taking around two years instead of 10.

“Regional councils will have a significantly reduced role in the new planning system because there will be stronger national direction, more standardisation, and more permitted activities,” Local Government Minister Simon Watts said.

The Government says these national directions will be concise and aimed at unlocking growth of housing, farming activities, and infrastructure.

A new national planning tribunal would be introduced to allow a simpler method for disputes, with recourse to the Environment Court still allowed.

Government aims for ‘no net loss of indigenous biodiversity’

Bishop said the reforms would not harm the natural environment but would set clearer standards for everyone - and hinted the Government might even replace regional environmental regulatory agencies with one national body.

The Government says it will aim for “no net loss of indigenous biodiversity”.

“Environmental limits under the RMA has failed,” Bishop said.

He said the Government would set limits required for “human health” while regional plans would set limits for air, land and soil, fresh and coastal water, and indigenous biodiversity.

“The new planning system will protect the environment by setting clear, science-based limits on what impacts are acceptable, ensuring councils and communities know exactly what must be protected and where development can occur,” Bishop said.

The Government’s information pack for the new laws includes an entire press release touting how much red tape the new system would remove for farmers, with associate agriculture minister Andrew Hoggard saying the new system “is built on a simple principle: it’s your land, you have the right to use it.”

Infrastructure push

Bishop said the new laws would be crucial to allowing new infrastructure - including transport and new power generation.

He said about $1.29 billion was spent by the infrastructure sector every year complying with the RMA.

“We spend as a country basically the equivalent of Transmission Gully every year, just for the consent costs of infrastructure.”

Infrastructure through “protected areas” would still be allowed if there was no other option in the area.

“National standards will then codify how to manage common activities so that consents are only needed for departures,” Bishop said.

The Government says the new laws will still allow planners to reject new development because new infrastructure was not already in place - meaning for example a new apartment block could be blocked because of the impact on traffic or wastewater.

Regulatory relief regime will make bipartisanship difficult

One of the most controversial aspects of the bill is likely to be the “regulatory relief” clause, which will force councils to compensate landowners for some controls they put on areas - such as Significant Natural Areas (SNA) controls.

This compensation could be made up of rates relief, cash, or development capacity elsewhere.

“We want councils to be faced with the potential cost of imposing regulatory burdens on people’s properties - whether it’s an SNA overlay, a cultural overlay, or landscape overlay,” under-secretary for RMA reform Simon Court said.

“Councils could potentially cover the cost of all that consenting so that a landowner is not out of pocket.”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said on Monday that regulatory takings would be very difficult for Labour to support.

Hipkins said he was not keen to enter into a “repeal and replace merry-go-round” on planning however, and Labour would look to set out exactly what it disagreed with on the new bill - not promising a total repeal but targeted amendments.

Former Labour leader and current mayor Andrew Little said the six year RMA reform process from the last Government which had resulted in two bills with remarkably similar names and goals to the new ones had likely played a part in the new regime.

Hipkins said on Tuesday he had not had a chance to properly digest the bill but criticised the Government for rushing through legislation extending all consents.

Regional councils: We are granting most consents at an average cost of $3k

Chair of Canterbury Regional Council and LGNZ regional sector chair Dr Deon Swiggs said there was “broadly” a lot to like in the reforms and regional councils would have a big role.

“Now that we’ve seen the Government’s proposed resource management system changes, it’s clear that implementation relies on the stability and expertise of regional and unitary councils,” Swiggs said.

“Broadly there’s a lot to like in the proposed reforms. They present a significant opportunity to deliver better economic outcomes while looking after the things that matter to our communities.”

“Now we as a sector really need to get on together and say… how do you get the implementation? Because the implementation is where you get your use of natural resources, where you get your economy thriving, where you get your people engaged in doing good things.now's the time that we're going to have to use to understand what those changes will look like.”

They noted that in 2024/25 over 94% of all consent applications to regional government were granted and 97.5% of those were granted without notification and at an average cost of $3000.