Sweeping reforms to the Resource Management Act will assume owners have the right to develop property and erase the need to consent routine construction work

The Coalition Government will create a single set of residential and commercial zoning rules which local councils can use to plan their districts, as part of wider Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, who is responsible for RMA reform, said there were currently 1,175 different kinds of zones used by individual councils. Each of these has their own set of technical rules developers have to learn and comply with. 

The Government wants to move towards a system like in Japan, where the whole country has just 13 different types of zones to choose from. There are six residential zones, three commercial zones, three industrial zones, and a special city centre zone. 

Most of these allow for some amount of mixed use, particularly around key transport hubs. For example, Category 2 Residential Zones permit small businesses and hotels alongside housing, while Quasi-Industrial Zones allow both residential buildings and light industry.

Bishop said standardising zoning rules would make it easier for developers to build housing and save local councils from having to define their own zones.   

“It will also enhance local decision making, allowing elected local representatives to focus more time on deciding where development should and should not occur in their community, and less time on the enormous amount of technical detail that goes into regulating that development,” he said in a press release. 

Simon Court, an Act Party MP deputised to work on RMA reform with Bishop, said the idea was to have a Lego or Juplo box full of different land use zones that councils could use to build their districts.

Local councils will soon have to meet the Government’s requirement to zone for 30 years of housing growth at once, which was its alternative to the formerly-bipartisan MDRS policy. 

“They're gonna get to choose where they grow up and where they grow out, but using standard zones. So if you are a property developer … in Auckland, Christchurch, and Timaru you are not going to have to interpret a whole lot of different zoning conditions,” he said.

The announcement was part of a much broader set of reforms. New rules will be written which allow people to build on their property unless it significantly impacts on the natural environment, or the ability of others to use their own land. 

If regulations or limits are imposed on a property, the council or government may have pay the owner for any lost value. Details on this will be complex and haven’t been decided, but it could mean cities have to contribute to the upkeep of heritage buildings — as an example.

“We believe that the best way to stop unnecessary red tape is to attach a price to it. The new system will protect landowners against regulatory takings, enabling them to seek recourse if found that unjustified restrictions have been placed on their land,” he said. 

Court said the RMA was “a gale force headwind, battling any attempts to develop anything anywhere” and it needed dramatic reform. 

There was an estimated $1.3 billion spent on consents each year, much of it on standard projects which are done all of the time. Earthworks for a house, a culvert under a road, a wastewater treatment plant, etc. 

A set of national policy directions will be established to prevent the need for consenting on routine work that follows best practice. 

Two laws intended to replace the RMA are expected to be introduced to Parliament before the end of the year, and likely passed before the next election. 

Bishop said he would speak with the opposition about making the Bill bipartisan but said the Government had a mandate and would not make significant compromises.