The Dunedin City Council is likely to appoint a four-person subcommittee to write its submission on proposed changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Three councillors were proposed for the subcommittee before this week's planning and environment committee meeting - committee chairman Michael Guest, resource consent hearings committee chairman Colin Weatherall and deputy mayor Syd Brown.
However, Cr Fliss Butcher asked during the meeting if she could be added to the group as she had a particular interest in resource management matters.
The committee agreed to add her name to the list.
The recommendation to establish the subcommittee will go to the full council for ratification on March 30.
It was one of the National Party's election planks to simplify the Act.
Action had already begun, council planner Debbie Hogan said in a report.
The first round of amendments had been proposed and included removing frivolous and anti-competitive objections, streamlining consent processes for projects of national significance, and improving local resource consent processes.
Phase two involved setting up an Environmental Protection Authority and reforms relating to various other Acts.
The Government hoped to have the first phase of amendments enacted by September, Ms Hogan said.
As the council would be unable to assess the implications of the amendments until the Bill was released, she said it was prudent to have a subcommittee ready to view the Bill, consider its implications on the council's consent processing, district plan and governance issues, and, if appropriate, to write a submission to a parliamentary select committee.
