The legislation has passed. Now the work begins on the instruments and plans that will underpin the new resource management system – shaping land, infrastructure, and resource use in Aotearoa New Zealand for decades to come. The time to influence them is now.
Consenting continues in the meantime, under the RMA or the Fast-track Approvals Act. Under either pathway, the same things decide success: the site, its constraints, and how well a project’s design fits the policy framework.
At Tonkin + Taylor, we’ve been involved in the reform since it began – advising clients and preparing submissions as the new system has taken shape.
If you’re an infrastructure provider or owner, or a developer, here’s what the reform means for you and where to focus now.
A new framework, but not an overnight reset
After 35 years, the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) has been replaced. The Planning Act and Natural Environment Act now provide the framework for a new resource management system in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The reform is intended to create greater clarity, reduce unnecessary variation between regions, strengthen national direction, and separate land-use planning from the management of the natural environment. Those are significant objectives. If they are achieved, the new system could support more consistent planning decisions, enhanced consenting, better coordination of infrastructure and development, and improved environmental outcomes.
However, the passage of new legislation does not, by itself, make complex decisions straightforward. The new system will take time to establish and is not expected to be fully in place until late 2030. In the meantime, existing RMA plans, consent and designation processes will continue to apply while the new system is progressively developed.
That transition is more than an administrative phase. It is a period in which important decisions will be made about growth, infrastructure, natural resources, environmental limits, land zoning, and policy formulation. If you have long-term interests in land, resources, or infrastructure, the decisions made during this period on national instruments, regional spatial plans, land use plans and natural environment plans will be as important as the new legislation itself.
What has changed – and what hasn’t
The two new Acts divide matters that were previously brought together under the RMA.
The Planning Act will govern land use. It provides for national instruments, regional spatial plans, land use plans, and a new designation framework. Nationally standardised zones and plan content are intended to reduce regional variation. Regional spatial plans, to be notified by mid-2028, will bring together planning for land use, infrastructure investment, environmental capacity, climate resilience, and the interests of mana whenua into a single framework, and will provide binding direction for subsequent land use and natural environment plans. These combined plans will shape the development context for many years to come.
The Natural Environment Act establishes a framework for managing the natural environment, including the coastal marine environment, freshwater, land, soil, and biodiversity. It introduces science-based environmental limits and targets and provides for the development of natural environment plans that determine how resources are used and how natural environments are managed.
Both Acts introduce new national planning instruments, including national policy direction and national standards. These instruments sit above and set outcomes and objectives for regional spatial plans, land use plans and natural environment plans, with all ultimately replacing the current mosaic of RMA statutory documents. The intention is to provide more consistent national direction for planning decisions made at regional and local levels.
What has not changed is equally important. During the transition, the RMA will continue to apply. Consenting under the existing RMA system will continue in parallel to the development of the national planning direction, regional spatial plans and land use and natural environment plans. The Fast-track Approvals Act also remains an alternative consenting pathway for nationally and regionally significant projects.
What the reform means for you
The implications will vary depending on the nature of your interests, the location of your assets and projects, and the timing of the decisions you need to make. But four themes are likely to be common.
Upstream policy influence – an investment for the future
If you have long-term interests in land, resources, or infrastructure, the decisions made during the transitional period may have long-term implications for your future investments. National policy direction, regional spatial plans, land use plans and natural environment plans will establish the context within which future projects are progressed. They will identify growth areas, infrastructure corridors, environmental limits, and protected values, and establish the key controls on land and natural resource use that determine how a development can be progressed.
Once those instruments are notified, the opportunity to influence them will narrow. If you have a long-term interest in development, infrastructure, land or resource use, you will need to understand where your interests intersect with the emerging policy framework and engage early if you wish to influence the planning outcomes.
That engagement is likely to include participation in the development of national instruments and the regional spatial plans, land use plans and natural environment plans, including through formal submissions when plans are notified.
If you’re prepared to invest in this process, you will benefit over the long term.
Legislation and processes change, but what determines outcomes will not
While the legislation has changed, the approach to successful project outcomes has not.
The relationship between project design, environmental effects, and policy requirements will remain central to any development plans going forward. Just as it always has.
If you understand this relationship, you’ll be well served. A project that is technically feasible but poorly aligned with emerging policy may face avoidable delay. Equally, a strong planning position will not compensate for gaps in design or the need to address environmental effects and site constraints.
A more standardised planning system may reduce some procedural friction, but it will not remove the underlying complexity of places and projects. Natural hazards, ecological values, freshwater constraints, geotechnical conditions, cultural values, community expectations, and engineering requirements will continue to influence what can be done and how. Plus, just as district and regional plans have for the last 30-odd years, the new land use plans and natural environment plans will determine how development occurs and the new pathways for approvals.
Understanding the transitional regime
Until the new planning system is in place, project approvals will occur under the RMA, or for qualifying projects, under the Fast-track Approvals Act. However, amendments have been made to the RMA that will apply over this period, including: the removal of the special circumstances test for notification; the exclusion of certain effects from consideration; and the application by councils of procedural principles designed to bring efficiencies to decision-making.
Some of the new national standards prepared under the new Acts will be identified as “initial national standards” and will have legal effect during the transition period.
Also available from mid-2027 onwards will be the Planning Tribunal, a new division of the Environment Court. The key functions of the Planning Tribunal will include reviewing administrative decisions made during the processing of consents – for example, requests for further information, notification decisions, and the interpretation of consent conditions.
The council environment will also be changing
Councils will implement RMA reform while responding to wider reforms in local government and the water sector, as well as financial pressures such as rate caps. These changes will affect priorities, capability and available capacity.
This may mean that understanding how a council works in practice will be as important as understanding the legislation and the new plans. Relationships, institutional knowledge, and an appreciation of the pressures facing councils can help organisations plan projects and development opportunities realistically and identify where council constraints may need to be factored in.
Preparing for opportunity – engaging with change reduces risk
The reform creates an opportunity to take a more strategic view of land, assets, and investment. It also creates risks if you treat the transition as something to monitor from a distance.
Where to start?
Establish a clear picture of your current exposure to the reform. This may include identifying existing consents and designations, relevant plan provisions, natural environment constraints, your planned investments, and any reliance on future infrastructure or on changes in land-use or resource-use policy. It may also include considering whether projects still in their early stages could be affected by the emerging planning framework.
From there, you can take practical actions:
- Map the transition. Understand which statutory and planning processes are relevant to your projects or assets, the likely timing of decisions, both yours and the council’s, and the best way available to you to secure your preferred outcome.
- Test the possible outcomes. Consider whether to proceed with your project under the current RMA system, wait for the new legislation to take full effect, or pursue an alternative approval route. The answer will differ between projects and should reflect both immediate needs and longer-term objectives.
- Engage in the plan development process. Regional spatial plans, land use plans and natural environment plans will shape the future of communities. Shaping the policy framework will create an opportunity to secure your future plans. But this will require well-reasoned and credible information to influence policy outcomes. Formal submissions on these plans and expert support by planners, engineering and environmental specialists are an investment that will deliver long-term benefits and help influence favourable policy settings.
- Keep your project and policy positions aligned. Reviewing designs and development plans in relation to their environmental impacts and the provisions of the emerging policy framework will help deliver strong outcomes. This has always been the case, and it will become more important over a period of significant change.
Joined-up thinking in a period of important change
The central task for anyone interested in the reform is to view the transition period as a strategic environment rather than a series of isolated legal changes. The decisions that matter may relate to the timing of a project, its design and environmental effects, or the way an organisation engages with the policy development process.
Tonkin + Taylor’s work across planning, engineering, environmental science, urban design, and community engagement, as well as submission, gives us a practical and joined-up perspective on the interfaces between policy and delivery.
That perspective is relevant to anyone interested in the transition. It helps local authorities and other public agencies consider how to develop and implement new plans and statutory instruments. It also helps anyone interested in land, infrastructure, development, or natural resources understand how their projects, assets, and long-term interests may be affected, and where early action could improve outcomes or reduce risk.
The new system is now being built. If you have a stake in how land and resources are used, the most useful response is not to wait for every detail to be settled. It is to understand the direction of travel, identify the decisions that matter, and to engage in the process as the opportunities arise. This is a period of considerable, but exciting, change.
To apply this to your organisation, ask three questions:
- Which of your assets and projects will the new plans affect?
- How do your project timeframes line up with the transition, and what does that mean for your consenting strategy?
- What are your ambitions, and where and when do you need to engage in the plan-making process?
Answering these early helps you avoid being locked out of decisions that will shape your future investments. To further understand what the RM reform means for you, talk to our planning team.
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