New Zealand's Planning Reform Boosts Growth, Cuts Costs, and Modernizes Laws

A sweeping overhaul of planning rules will unlock economic growth and help build a stronger New Zealand, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop say.

Nicola Willis says the reforms are central to the Government’s focus on creating jobs and lifting incomes.

To improve living standards and keep pace with other advanced economies, we need to start saying yes to investment, yes to innovation and yes to growth.

For too long, the Resource Management Act has acted as a handbrake on the economy. It has created cost and complexity and, at times, been misused to stifle growth and competition.

The Government is committed to turning that around. The reforms being announced today are a cornerstone of the Government’s Going for Growth agenda, which aims to lift productivity, reduce regulatory burdens and address New Zealand’s enduring productivity challenge.

Chris Bishop says the changes contained in two bills introduced to Parliament today are projected to save $13.3 billion in administrative and compliance costs over the next 30 years and to increase Gross Domestic Product by at least 0.56 per cent annually by 2050 and increasing thereafter.

The introduction of the bills is a major step toward replacing the broken Resource Management Act with a modern, pro-growth planning system.

The new bills are: a Planning Bill to enable development and regulate land use, and a Natural Environment Bill to protect nature and encourage the efficient use of land and resources, Mr Bishop says.

The new planning system strengthens property rights and restores the freedom for New Zealanders to use their land in ways that affect nobody else. Councils will be required to provide relief to property owners when imposing significant restrictions like heritage protections or significant natural areas. This is a much-needed rebalancing away from a system that allowed councils to impose major costs on property owners without considering the impacts.

It is a system designed to get New Zealand building again, support our productive sectors, and bash through the bureaucracy holding back economic growth.

Mr Bishop and Under-Secretary for RMA Reform Simon Court will introduce the two new Bills in Parliament today. The Government aims to pass the Bills into law in 2026.

New Zealanders will be invited to have their say on the legislation via the Select Committee process.

Note to editors: More information about the new planning system can be found here: https://environment.govt.nz/news/government-unveils-major-overhaul-of-new-zealands-planning-system