The New Year has started with 10 new or amended national policy statements intended to make it easier to mine, quarry and establish more aquaculture.
These national directions enable central government to set out objectives and policies to guide local consent decisions.
The amended statements cover such things as Indigenous Biodiversity, freshwater management, highly productive land and coastal policy.
The RMA Minister, Chris Bishop, has said that it is an unavoidable fact that to build more infrastructure and grow the economy, the nation needs more quarries and mines.
Already the scrapping of the Resource Management Act, in favour of new legislation due to come in later this year, is expected to trigger a surge in changes to National Policy Statement.
Elizabeth Macpherson is a law professor at Canterbury University specialising in Environmental Law, says the changes could lead to more legal challenges.
The RMA Minister, Chris Bishop, provided this explanation about why the changes to the National Policy Statements were necessary.
Our approach aims to support economic growth while continuing to protect the environment.
Councils as consent authorities will still be required to assess the resource consent applications and have the ability to impose consent conditions to manage effects on the environment.
Photo: RNZ / MARK PAPALII
