Further to our update on the 2nd December 2022, the NZILA Working Group for RMA Reforms has been working on a submission to the Natural and Built Environment Bill. We haven’t had a lot of time, submissions close this Sunday, 5th February at 11:59pm. You can make a submission yourself by visiting the Parliament website.

I'm pleased to report we have made good progress. The final submission was ratified by the NZILA Executive Committee yesterday. A copy of the submission is available here.

We apologise for not having had the time to circulate to the whole membership for comment. However, the focus of our submission has been strategic rather than detailed. We have taken a supportive approach, reflecting that the proposed bill seeks an outcomes based approach to environmental (and landscape) management. In particular, we support the ongoing need for protection of outstanding natural landscapes and outstanding natural features, noting the added focus in the Bill for restoration where these are degraded. This approach is in line with our original submission to the Select Committee seeking that protection of ONLs and ONFs needs to be a fundamental System Outcome of environmental legislation.

However, we have recognised that the desire to remove the term amenity from the legislation is likely to have significant consequences on other landscapes. We have therefore considered the fundamental principles of landscape, narrowing our focus to what we hope is a more politically palatable concept: the relationship between communities and place.

Therefore, our submission essentially focusses on requesting the addition of a System Outcome within Section 5 of the bill, as follows: (h) recognition of the relationships between communities and place that contribute to the identity and well-being of present and future generations.

Whether our submission will be endorsed is another matter. Therefore, a small working group has been developing a relationship with senior policy advisors within the Ministry for the Environment. To date, our advice in regard to the development of the proposed National Planning Framework has been very well received. Timeframes for the preparation for the NPF are extremely tight (end of April for the first draft), and we know that we will not achieve all our desired outcomes in the first tranche. However, we are optimistic that MfE are setting up the NPF in a way that allows for ongoing improvement, including the widening of direction to cover management of all landscapes. We are also working on formalising the relationship between NZILA and MfE to better facilitate our continued involvement in updating and adding to the NPF.

Our understanding is that the draft NPF will be subject to a nationwide Board of Inquiry process before it is adopted. We have been careful with NZILA’s submission on the Bill, and in our dealings with MfE, to ensure that all landscape architects will have the opportunity to individually (or collectively) be involved in the Board of Inquiry process as may be desired. Equally, we consider that landscape architects will be in a very good position to assist with the development of Regional Spatial Strategies and Natural and Built Environment Plans as these are developed over the coming years.

The proposed changes to the legislation have the potential to be positive for our profession, but are likely to bring challenges and unknown consequences. I urge you, even if you do not work directly with RMA legislation, to take time to review the proposed changes and consider how they might affect you and your clients. It is very likely that in 2-3 months, the Resource Management Act will no longer exist.

Finally, I’d like to say a big thank you to the working group, in particular Rhys Girvan, Di Lucas, Clive Anstey, Bridget Gilbert, Kerstie van Zandvoort, Rachel de Lambert and Gavin Lister, who have all gifted hours of time and expertise in advancing this important work.