Latest / Best of Business / Chris Bishop: RMA Reform Minister on the Government's new Resource Management Act system

Transcript

Chris Bishop: RMA Reform Minister on the Government's new Resource Management Act system · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk SEDB. Follow this
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Nine after five.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: The government today replacing the dreaded RIMA with two new
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: laws due to be passed before the next election. A
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Planning Act will focus on the development and use of land,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: and the Natural Environment Act will look at the use
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: and protection of the environment. Sounds about right. Minister for
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: RMA Reform Chris Bishop is with me now, High Minister.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: Good afternoon.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: In a nutshell, what are you changing.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: We're going to make fewer plans, there will be less
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: need for resource consents, that will be greater standardization around
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: the country what's called permitted activities. So as long as
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: you meet the standards and you are using your own property,
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: you can go off and do it. So fewer plans,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: fewer resource consents, much more standardization, a much simpler system,
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: and it will lead to less cost and more ability
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: to do with your own property what you would like
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: and make it easy to build the houses and infrastruction
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: and projects that you zone needs to get ahead.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: So I own a three bedroom home on a five
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: hundred square meter section in a city in New Zealand,
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Can I go three.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Floors depending on the zoning of the council. Yes, But
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: one of the things we'll be looking at is standardized zones.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: So in New Zealand at the moment there are one
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: hundred and seventy five different types of zones around the country.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Canterbury alone has over two hundred different zones. It's an
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: absolute nightmare for builders and from fat for anyone to
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: work their way through. Japan, by the way, has just
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: thirteen different zones, thirteen different land zones in which you
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: can work out what you do. So we want to
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: radically simplify the number of zones and end up with
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: standardized zones around the country. So the key point will
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: be this rhyme. If you want to build a three
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: bedroom home up to a certain height limit in Lower Hut,
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: it will be the same in Lower Hut as it
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: will be in another part of the country because the
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: standardized zone. Oka.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: The problem you run into always is with councils is
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: the special character areas, isn't it And they're different in
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: different places. But will you have a carve out for
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: areas where Wellington and Auckland and christ At whatever might think, Oh,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: these houses are pretty and we don't want people to
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: be able to build up nine stories here.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: There will be a safety valve through the legislation for
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: some types of deviation from standardized zones. That is important.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: There will be unique cases, but as a general principle,
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: there won't be the ability to do that. That is precisely,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: for example, why the eleven story green building which was
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: due to replace a gravel pit next to a city
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: rail link station in Auckland got turned down precisely because
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: of those that sort of behavior and we want to
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: stop that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Minister, thanks very much for your time. That's the minister
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: in charge of ripping up the RMA and doing something different.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Chris Bishop.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: For more from News Talks b listen live on air
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: go with our podcast on iHeartRadio