RMA ‘complex, costly and time-consuming’

Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Fran Wilde says the RMA is crafted in such a way that it invites litigation and delay. She told the New Zealand Water conference, held in Rotorua last week, while some changes to the RMA have been made in recent times – the process remains complex, costly and time and resource hungry. She says the RMA plays a huge role in how regional plans are framed including the development of regulations.

  “The whole system should change so that the focus goes into the front end of these plans so you get the community engagement with stakeholders when the plan is being developed not after it’s drafted.” 

Wilde also believes the consent process should be much more transactional than it is at present, so people don’t end up in the Environment Court all the time. 

“Nowadays so much stuff is appealed and all parties and councils have to gold-plate every decision making process because they know they are going to get appealed. This means that it’s a feast day for lawyers and QC’s. But it doesn’t help the boat go faster, it doesn’t actually help the economy and in the end you probably get much the same decisions anyway – but it just cost a huge amount of money.” 

Under the present litigious system, farmers and other parties to the plans end up paying many times over, according to Wilde. She says, in effect, they pay the council’s legal cost through their rates as well as their own planning and legal costs. 

“My major argument is that this is just such an absurd waste of money,” she says. Wilde also wants limits on the appeal process and a good public conversation on the role of the Environment Court so that everyone knows why it is there.

Another area that needs attention is water-related research. She says there’s been a decline in this area and scarce research dollars need to be focused in ‘a strategic way’. 

She adds that a lot of good science knowledge exists in regional councils and this needs to be shared. Wilde also believes that councils should work closely with science organisations, such as CRI’s and universities. She wants the science on water issues ‘on the table’ in the development stages of regional plans – rather than being presented during hearings.

Finally, Wilde is calling for a more strategic approach to water management. 

“For many years the government approach has been characterised by inconsistent and ad hoc interventions often representing just one perspective of government interests –rather than a synthesised, whole-of-government approach.”