Government announces they’re putting a stop to “unnecessary plan changes” under the Resource Management Act (RMA)

Name: Buckton Surveyors and Planners
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Giana Pedrazza
Jul 29
2 min read

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Buckton's Manager, Gabriel Hare, flying a drone on site. — *Figure 1 . Resource Management Act 1991*

On the 16 th of July, the Government announced that it intends to stop councils from progressing “unnecessary plan and regional policy statement reviews” under the current Resource Management Act (RMA). The intention is to free up council time and resources so that they can focus on transitioning to a more streamlined resource management system, which will come into effect in 2027.

Hon Chris Bishop says the current system has “crippled” the country for decades, and councils need to be spending time on preparing for the new system without being bogged down with plan changes that may need rewriting once the new system comes in to affect.

To allow for this to happen, the government, under the new policy, will:

Suspend councils’ requirements to review plans and regional policy statements every 10 years.
Pause the requirement for councils to implement the National Planning Standards.
Extend the restriction on notifying freshwater planning instruments for a further two years.
Require councils to withdraw pending plan changes that haven’t yet reached the hearing stage, within 90 days of the law change.
Stop the notification of new plan or regional policy statement reviews, changes, and variations.

These restrictions could have significant implications for councils. However, there are some exceptions, with the government allowing for open pathways to continue for priority projects such as housing growth, urban development, and upholding Treaty settlement obligations, as well as any plans related to natural hazard management. Councils will be able to apply to the Minister of Environment for a plan-stop exemption to continue necessary work, however they will need to be submitted within three months of the amendment becoming law.

How will the policy be delivered to the Resource Management Act

The policy will be delivered as an amendment paper to the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Bill which is currently being discussed in parliament. The expectation is that the Bill will pass into law by the end of 2025. Whilst certain plan changes will be exempt from these restrictions, including private plan changes initiated by landowners and developers, uncertainty remains.

For instance, it is not yet known the impact this will have on Kaipara District Council and their recently publicly notified Proposed Kaipara District Plan 2025. Whether this is now placed on hold or continues has not yet been announced.