Janette Campbell: RMA Expert Advisory Group chair on the reforms to the act

There are hopes reforms to the Resource Management Act have walked the line between development and environment. 

The Government's new framework for planning includes new acts around development of land and on protection of the natural environment. 

Each act includes a set of national policy direction for simplifying and streamlining local government plans and decision-making. 

RMA Expert Advisory Group chair Janette Campbell told Mike Hosking they're confident it's hit a balance. 

She says they had a clear direction to protect the environment bottom line, and they've done that with the Environment Act. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Has anything been changed, talked about, fought over more than
the Resource Management Act for goodnessake, and now more change.
We'll have new planning laws which allegedly will come in well,
it will overcome the culture of no allegedly big claimers.
Administrative and compliance costs will be cut by forty five percent, jered.
The government's RAMA Expert Advisory Group, Jennette Campbell is with U.
Jeanette morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Are you guys still a thing? I thought you'd been
disbanded and sorted out? Or am I completely wrong on that?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Ah. We have delivered our report to the government and
that's the end of the main work of the EAG,
but some of us are staying on to help with
the next phase of the reforms.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Broadly speaking, are we heading in the right direction?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I think so? My report so yes, I think it
is headed. It's in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
So I got excited over David Parker who said we
need to sort this out. This is a mess, and
he went and produced nine hundred plus pages of an encyclopedia.
Is this going to be any different? Well?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I absolutely hope. So, I too was excited about those reforms,
and I think we have drawn on what happened there,
and one of our key ambitions is to simplify matters.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Can you.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I think we can. I think there's a lot
that can be done. We looked at overseas examples, the
Scottish and typical Tesciturn Scott's fashion have got national policy
which runs to a couple of pages. I think there's
a lot that we can move from from overseas.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
So it is fair to suggest that the complexity of
the rules has weaponized what's going on. And I cite this,
I assume you're up with it. There's k road building
in Auckland that was turned down. The wind farm last
week was turned down under fast track in Southland. There
seems to be no end of ability for people to
hire lawyers and stall stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
YEP, absolutely fair criticism.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
I and so how do you get around that. You're
just simply not allowed to stall stuff anymore? And if
you want to do something you can do it. Can
you make it that simple or does the pendulum then
swing so far back the other way you end up
building monstrosities you later regret.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
I think there's two parts of that. The first part
is about that k road building under our recommended system.
We're going to make use of nationally standardized zones, which
are set nationally with public input. I would imagine that
site would have a commercial zoning that would commit activities
like commercial buildings, So it would be very unlikely to

(02:16):
even need a consent in a case like that, So
there wouldn't be opportunity to weaponize the legislation then to
hold it up. So that's the first thing. The second
thing in terms of the environment is our direction from
the government was really clear that we did need to
protect environmental bottom lines, and we've done that through the
Environment Act. So we are hoping that we can walk

(02:39):
that tension between development and protecting what's really important to
us as a country. And we think we've done it.
We've walked that line.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Hope you're right, Jeanette go well, appreciate it. Jeanet Campbell,
RMA Advisory Group Chair with the k ROAD building adverse
effects from building heightened form new buildings to be complement
entry to the existing and planned character of precincts. I mean,
what does that even mean complementary? Is that complementary? You
asked me, yes, yes, Bob no, So I mean that's
the sort of nonsense you're dealing with. You don't know

(03:10):
what the building is. It doesn't matter. I'll broach it
with the Prime Minister later on. But it just seems
a lot of waffle and if you want to find
an excuse not to do something, you can. As for
the wind farm in Southland, I literally don't understand it.
Once again, I'll ask the Prime Minister under the fast track,
and when I say fast track, the previous government's fast
track under the fast Track renewables wind Southland got turned down.

(03:32):
How's that possible? For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks it'd be from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio