This is unsurprising, given the undertaking embraces development and the environment.
An outline and principles were presented this week, and a timetable set out — although some believe it is rushed and ambitious. Various wide-ranging implications will become clearer as more analysis is carried out and more detail emerges.
The government wants to introduce new laws this year, passing the legislation before the 2026 election. They would be ready for councils’ 2027 long-term plans.
The RMA, as it came to be known, received bipartisan support in 1991 as world-leading environmental and development legislation. It endeavoured to encompass several laws under one umbrella, focusing on "effects" rather than just specific rules.
Inevitably, complications multiplied, and amendments accumulated. The Act was reviewed, tweaked and reviewed again many times. It is nearly 900 pages long and has had 1000 additions. Attempts were made to push its emphasis in different directions.
The RMA became symbolic of difficulties and delays, blamed by developers and criticised by environmentalists. Its processes were dominated by planners, lawyers and scientists. Something needed to change.
Labour got in first. After a drawn-out process, it split the RMA up into land-use planning and environment laws, although, naturally, there are overlaps.
The new government repealed Labour’s efforts, while instructing an expert advisory group to develop alternatives based on the government’s outlook.
This they did. That work forms the basis of this week’s announcement.
The fundamentals are similar to Labour’s. There will be a Natural Environment Act and a Planning Act. Planning systems between councils will be standardised and more activities "permitted". Environmental limits will be set to provide more certainty about where development can take place, while "protecting" the environment.
There is more centralisation and less localism, despite National’s pre-election rhetoric. Councils will need strong reasons to deviate from the simplified and consistent zones across the whole country.
Hopefully, the provision for exceptions would allow, for example, Queenstown Lakes to retain enhanced outstanding natural landscape protections.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop claims the new system will cut compliance and administration costs by 45%, saying Labour’s laws would cut these by only 7%. Who knows how anyone could come up with such precise figures?
Local government councillors repeatedly claim that central government keeps loading on extra responsibilities without funding. This is the opposite, stripping functions and eventually costs.
Regional councils might find their environmental, planning and enforcement roles substantially diminished. Otago Regional Council ratepayers, stung by successive large rate increases, might welcome this change. They might wonder at the forlorn and expensive efforts of the council in its land and water plan battle with the government.
One even wonders about the long-term future of regional councils in the face of planning and environmental centralisation.
Fresh water — its "ownership", management, allocation and national standards — is a tangled zone where much is disputed, and much is to be worked through.
One area where the government plan differs will be the absence of generic references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles. Descriptive clauses based on Treaty settlement rights are envisaged.
Another is the government’s emphasis on private property rights. This is the basis for more permissive consents and restricting who can object.
Although much makes sense, community perspectives and interests are important. Developments affect those around them and the environment for a very long time.
Compensation for decisions to restrict property-right developments could be highly controversial in practice. Public money paid to private owners might not go down well.
Mr Bishop described the reforms as a "radical transition to a far more liberal planning system". It will presume a land use is allowed unless it significantly affects others’ property rights or damages the natural environment.
The government now has the demanding task of transforming plans into workable, balanced and fair legislation.
