New RMA Rules Could Spark Resource Scramble - Johanna King on Farmers Weekly

New RMA rules could spark resource scramble

Environmental lawyer flags risks inherent in legislation now making its way through Parliament.

Legislation aimed at speeding up the resource management process brings a risk of pitching farmer against farmer in a disjointed scramble for natural assets like water, warns an environmental law expert.

At present the replacement Resource Management Act legislation, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill, have moved through Select Committee review and are looking likely to pass before the election in early November.

Johanna King, environmental lawyer and senior associate at national law firm Tavendale and Partners, said there is a real risk the bills as they stand will face even further reiterations, should a new government take power.

But she has highlighted how, despite the original bills attempting to include other methods, the Select Committee’s changes show that the allocation of water resources would be sticking with the current “first in, first served”,  with priority for existing permit holders’ approaches.

“Retaining those approaches is good news for farmers who have existing permits, but it leaves the barriers in place for anyone entering new and goes against the comparative reset many were wanting to see, especially in over-allocated catchments,” King said.  

“It also risks seeing individuals taking a more siloed approach to applications for water use, protecting their own permits. 

“This contrasts with efforts to address allocation issues across sectors and catchments collectively.”

She cautioned that the approach and wording have not necessarily been drafted into a final form yet. At the time of writing a further 71 amendment papers had been issued across the two bills,  but she doubted the approach would change much if the current government is re-elected.

The RMA changes are aiming to make approvals less of a “case by case” matter, reducing time spent in the likes of council hearings and the Environment Court.

“There is a lot of annoyance with the current rules, and the time and costs involved in obtaining consents. But based on the new regime in the bills, a lot rides on the yet-to-be finalised national direction and minister input to trickle down into the new local planning rules.” 

But she said because the reform bills are changing a number of key pillars in the current RMA system, a natural consequence will be debates about how to properly give effect to the new legislation via the new local plans.  

“This will keep lawyers busy and complicate the transition period between the current and new regimes. Things may well be trickier before they get better.”  

She also notes the latest changes include damming of water as an allocation issue.

“The illustrative National Planning Direction document released yesterday indicates that enabling more on-farm storage will be in the mix, which is great for the food and fibre sector, but the formal national direction detailing this is not expected to be released for consultation until 2027. 

“Things are still a bit ‘cart before the horse’ in that respect.”

King’s concerns also reflect widening sector concerns over the fast-track process now underway. 

The high-profile process has been raising community ire recently, particularly around housing developments included on its schedule.

“It has been a successful option for some key infrastructure projects, but it’s causing growing pains where private developers get the green light for large housing developments out of sequence.”

She noted that, with all the criticism levelled at the fast-track regime, it is possible it will get brought back to more of an infrastructure-only focus.

Read here: New RMA rules could spark resource scramble

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