The Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill have been presented as a new system that will unlock development capacity for housing growth, infrastructure, and make it easier to “get things done”. In the latest instalment of our resource management reform series, we delve into the opportunities and risks that this system presents for developers, with a focus on the Planning Bill, which will regulate land use zoning, urban development, housing and infrastructure. 

For developers, the reforms promise clearer and more consistent national direction, fewer consents, and potentially faster and more cost-effective pathways to market. But the proposed legislation also shifts critical decision making stages to much earlier in the planning process, with compressed engagement timeframes and reduced appeal rights. At the regional spatial plan level there is little room for changes to be made between official reviews, which will happen every ten years.

Click the report link below to read our overview of the components of the new regime that developers need to know about.

Special thanks to Samantha Hiew for her assistance in writing this article.

Read our other article in the series:

Building the Future: How RMA Reform will shape New Zealand’s infrastructure

Unwrapping the resource management reform

The Good, the Bad, and the Uncertain: Implications for local government in resource management reform