Proposed changes to the Resource Management Act - to promote economic growth in the provinces by mining - have been welcomed by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).
However, councils may find themselves between a rock and hard place - that of Government economic intent and growing environmental resistance.
A recent report by the New Zealand Initiative (NZI), a corporate business group representing most of the country's largest companies, wants more regional exploration and mining, including minerals and oil and gas.
Separately, LGNZ has again raised the suggestion regions should get a direct share of mining royalties, which go to central government at present.
The 44-page report ''Poverty of wealth - why minerals need to be part of the rural economy'', was by NZI research fellow Jason Krupp.
''The rural decline is at odds with the mineral resources that are found in the provinces, which are largely under-explored and under-utilised,'' he said.
However, the report appears at odds with the waning mining sector at present.
The global prices for gold, coal and in recent months oil, have all plunged.
Solid Energy had come near to collapse and Bathurst Resources has been unable to increase its coal mining on the West Coast.
Oceana Gold, the country's largest gold miner, is considering exiting its East Otago and Reefton mines by 2017, while L&M Group has quit its alluvial gold operation near Alexandra, in Central Otago, citing low prices.
Mr Krupp acknowledged the recent effects of plunging mineral prices, which are being mirrored in dairying, he noted, but the consenting processes for both activities should continue, he said.
''[Global] commodity prices are at a low ebb now ... that is cyclical,'' Mr Krupp said.
He noted Newmont's Waihi Gold still had six years' work, while central North Island's New Talisman had potential in some of its gold tenements.
He was asked what environmentalists could expect, in the way of environmental protection, from Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.
''There has to be a sweet spot for mining in New Zealand, without plundering the environment,'' Mr Krupp said.
At present there was too much ''red tape'', with the need for mining permits, consents required from district and regional councils and possibly plan changes.
He claimed there were new mining development techniques waiting to come into New Zealand, but the operators were reluctant, because of the regulatory environment.
''We don't see the [new] developments because New Zealand is not mining-friendly,'' Mr Krupp said.
Onshore, New Zealand was believed to be rich in gold and silver, coal, industrial metals and non-metallic minerals and offshore, the oil and gas estate had the potential ''to make a significant contribution to the economy'', Mr Krupp said.
Yesterday, Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges welcomed the news that a new oil well had gone into production in Taranaki.
''OMV announced overnight that the development well MR-8A has successfully started production and is expected to produce about 4500 barrels a day,'' Mr Bridges said.
The well is one of five being drilled around the Maari field around 80km off the Taranaki coast, as part of the $400 million Maari Growth campaign.
Mr Bridges said spending on exploration and development in New Zealand during the past two years totalled almost $3 billion.
LGNZ president Lawrence Yule said Mr Krupp's report outlined the shift between the growth of urban New Zealand and the challenges of rural New Zealand, and looked at ways to lift the economies of rural areas through mineral extraction.
The report supported the need to address regional growth across the country, as did the work LGNZ was doing to advocate for local communities to share in mining royalties in the region where extraction occurs, Mr Yule said.
He was also critical of the RMA, saying its plan-making and consenting processes were complex, costly and inefficient and reform was needed so benefits could be more quickly realised.
