Simon Court: ACT MP voices concerns about cultural requirements slowing down construction projects

An ACT MP claims cultural requirements in resource consents are creating extra costs and slowing down solar farm projects. 

Undersecretary for RMA Reform, Simon Court says at one Hawke's Bay site local hapu have to be invited to perform karakia every time a native tree is removed. 

He says ultimately it will be consumers missing out. 

"What this means is that if solar farms can't get built, or if they get built but there's all this extra cost, that's going to add to your power bill."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now. Remember last week we revealed that Ikea Big
Store had to consult with seven different Mana Fenua groups
to build their Sylvia Park store, including inviting them to
perform katakia and other cultural ceremonies on the site three
separate times. Well, the under Secretary for RMA Reform Acts,
Simon Court, has gone through some more resource consents and

(00:23):
found even more ridiculous examples. One resource consent in central
hawks Bay requires local Hupu to be invited to give
a katakia whenever a native plant or tree is removed.
Simon Court is with me now, Hi, Simon.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Good evening, Ryan, So what exactly.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Is have you found in Hawks Bay?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well? Right, we've found more mad resource content conditions for
solar farms in central hawks Bay, which include, as you
pointed out, inviting Mana Fenua to perform prayers before removing
any native trees or plants, and requiring the developer to
provide written reports every six months until at least two

(01:05):
years after construction's finished outlining how they can fly with
a sixty six page cultural impact assessment and what ongoing
reporting around that. What this means is that if solar
farms can't get built or if they get built, but
there's all this extra cost that's going to add to
your power bill. We hear councils and many others saying

(01:27):
they want more renewable energy, but then in the resource
concending space, they demand ceremonial chanting and spreadsheet level detail
about everything a contractor does when they're building and developing
the site.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Whose land is it?

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Well, these two sites that we've been looking at this
week are both around on in Central Hawks Bay. One
is owned privately, the other is owned by the local
lines company. The private developer was proposing a solar farm
that would supply eighteen thousand homes. They're in liquidation because

(02:03):
they can't make the economics of their proposal stack up.
So the question is there are many of these projects
that we need to get built, go simply cost more,
which is going to add to people's power bills, or
just never get built at all. Like one of these
projects in Ongwong, it looks like.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
What's the theory. So this one that's on private land,
it's a private soular farm on private land. Is you
have the gone bus, But what's the logical the theory
of having mana fenore so involved with the cut of
care and stuff. What is the theory, Well, Ryan.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
It's a wonky theory and it's called the Resource Management Act.
And what parts of the Resource Management Act say is
that planners and decision makers has to give a high
level of weight to the Treaty of Waiting principles and
to other cultural matters when they're coming up with resource
consent conditions. Now, we can't get things built in New

(02:59):
Zealand and if we're going to force the companies to
essentially perform ceremonial chanting every time they want to get
something built. And that's why A committed to scrapping the
Resource Management We campaigned on that before the last election.
We've got that into the National Act Coalition Agreement and
one of the things I'm working on is delivering a

(03:20):
new piece of resource management law that's based on property
rights and without this general Treaty principle's clause that drives
this kind of insanity.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Have you discussed with the locally about the need for
these three separate catechare.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Well, I haven't personally discussed it with them, But one
of the problems we've got is.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Local Did the land I mean, did anyone actually just say, hey,
do we need to do all this stuff? Is as necessary?
Because I mean they might do they even know? I mean,
is this.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well? Ryan, I was a civil engineering project manager for
nearly twenty five years before I was elected as an
act MP, and what I do know is that the
kind of questions you've asked, do we even need any
of this stuff? Are often asked at the projects stage,
But once you go to your local council, we'll say, oh, Craigie,
do you know who the man of Fenway is in
your area? And have you consulted with them? And you say, well, no,

(04:13):
what interests would they have in a solar farm? Well,
it turns out, according to council and under the RMA,
they do have an interest. And that's why councils keep
enforcing all of these conditions on developers. And if you
want your resource consent, eventually you're just going to roll
over and say yes to it, no matter what the cost.
And that's why we have to replace the Resource Management
Act with the system based on property right. So youjumb

(04:35):
and I've given us elves to the end of the
year to introduce it, and we'll have that legislation into
the House later this.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Year, okay, So later this year? When when will it
part By the end of the start next year a path.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
We're aiming to have it passed through all stages by
the middle of twenty twenty six and implemented in large
part immediately, but with a full implementation date of one
July twenty twenty se.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
One July, okay, But by mid twenty twenty six we
will have the legislation passed that will put an end
to all of this.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Well, what it's going to do is say whether it
was a treaty settlement and you know the government has
agreed that there are certain Ewe or Hapu who have
a right to have their say at the planning stage,
then those rights should be preserved. But when it comes
to individual consent conditions like the IKEA one you referenced before,
saying up to seven mon of Fenoma, groups have to

(05:29):
be consulted and by the way, you have to invite
them to every stage of construction, site clearance, earthworks, putting
the site back together again to say prayers. We're not
going to.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Have that simon court at party MP. Nice to have
you on the program.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
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Speaker 1 (05:46):
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