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Federated Farmers RMA spokesperson Mark Hooper.
OPINION: New data out last month shows why farmers want the broken Resource Management System fixed, quickly.
Councils are processing fewer new resource consents, doing so more slowly than ever, while at the same time employing a record-high number of staff to do it. That’s according to the Ministry for the Environment’s National Monitoring System data report for 2022-23.
During the 12 months, the proportion of new resource consents being notified remained below 2.5%. At the same time, the median processing time for new resource consents increased from 46 working days to 57 working days and councils employed their highest number of full-time equivalent staff for resource management. A total of 2262 staff were employed across all of New Zealand’s councils, nearly 400 more than the 1891 staff employed in 2020-21.
According to Federated Farmers, all the key trends continue to go in the wrong direction and shows just how badly the current resource management system is serving New Zealanders.
Feds spokesperson for RMA reform, Mark Hooper points out that numbers don’t lie.
“We have a problem with the RMA, and it needs urgent attention,” Hooper says.
Farmers are rightly urging the Government not to take the foot off the gas when it comes to RMA reforms. The Government agrees that the current process for making or amending national direction is unnecessarily onerous, costly, and takes too long. A lot of on-farm projects get caught up in lengthy and expensive litigation.
Resource consents should be limited to those activities that are truly unique. Everyday farm activities can be managed more efficiently through farm plans, farmers say.
As Federated Farmers says, the country needs a new resource management framework to drastically reduce the number of resource consents Kiwis are subject to. Replacing the RMA is the most meaningful long-term economic reform this Government can deliver for farmers.
OPINION: When I moved to Marlborough two decades ago, I found countless lines of tidy vines, neatly mowed and carefully sprayed, with diligent conventional practices interspersed with the odd organic or cover-cropping outlier, like Te Whare Ra.
The Government has issued a stern warning to regional councils and unitary authorities to toe the line in respect upcoming changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Changes to resource management laws announced last week will spare thousands of farmers from needing an unnecessary resource consent just to keep farming.
OPINION: The Government has been seeking industry feedback on its proposed amendments to a range of Resource Management Act (RMA) national direction instruments.
OPINION: The Government's decision to stop local authorities going ahead with reviews of district and regional plans makes sense for several reasons.
The Government is set to announce two new acts to replace the contentious Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Prime Minister hinting that consents required by farmers could reduce by 46%.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change would be “a really dumb move”.
The University of Waikato has broken ground on its new medical school building.
Undoubtedly the doyen of rural culture, always with a wry smile, our favourite ginger ninja, Te Radar, in conjunction with his wife Ruth Spencer, has recently released an enchanting, yet educational read centred around rural New Zealand in one hundred objects.
Farmers are being urged to keep on top of measures to control Cysticerus ovis - or sheep measles - following a spike in infection rates.
The avocado industry is facing an extremely challenging season with all parts of the supply chain, especially growers, being warned to prepare for any eventuality.
