PRM SEM 01 - 02. RMA and Planning and Resource Consents Flashcards
What are the three Acts that govern design, construction and maintenance buildings?
The Resource Management Act 1991, Building Act 1991,The Building Regulations 1992
govern the design, construction and maintenance of our buildings and the processing of
building approvals. There continue to be recent amendments and new Acts.
They are modern legislation in that they aim not to be prescriptive, but to set objectives
to be achieved rather than tell you what you can do or how to do things.
What did the Resource Management Act replace?
Replaced various Town and Country Planning Acts that had governed New Zealand
development over the 20th Century as well as over 20 other different statutes, bringing all
discussion and issues to do with environmental management together under one Act.
What does the RMA promote?
It promotes sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air
and water and creates a planning system that governs environment protection, land
use, planning and zoning, density, size, bulk and location of buildings etc.
What is the Key Concept of the RMA?
Key concept of the RMA is sustainable use of natural resources. Also an emphasis on
devolved decision making – local people and Councils making planning decisions rather
than central Government.
The RMA aims to be …
The RMA aims not to be prescriptive, but to set objectives to be achieved rather than tell
you what you can do or how to do things.
The RMA does…
The RMA does allow proposals that affect the environment, however proposals should
not have a significant adverse effect on the environment that outweigh the project’s
benefits.
Resource Management (Simplify and Streamline) Amendment Act 2009
The RMA has a reputation among the business sector for having long, involved
bureaucratic processes with lots of paperwork. In 2009 the Government simplified and
streamlined the RMA, which it saw as a hindrance to “productivity and economic growth”.
Objectives included “removing frivolous, vexatious and anti-competitive objections” (eg
using the Act to attack a business competitor, using the Act as a delaying tactic),
“streamlining processes for projects of national significance” (eg wind farms,
motorways), “improving Plan development, Plan Change processes and Resource
Consent processes”. More changes were made in 2013 and even more are proposed
this year in the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill to make the RMA in the
Government’s words more “efficient and equitable”.
Check if latest
Regions and Territorial Authorities:
New Zealand is divided into 16 Regions, most with Regional Councils) and 67
Territorial Authorities (that we call Councils) governing cities and districts (13 City
Councils, 53 District Councils, and the Chatham Islands Council).
Regions and TA’s
Regions are based on water catchment areas, whereas Territorial Authorities are based
on community of interest and road access, so regions often overlap cities and districts:
Taupo District is in four different regions!
Regional Councils
Under the RMA, Regional Councils are responsible for the administration of many
environmental and public transport matters
From an architect’s point of view, these Councils control planning and building
approvals: Resource Consents and Building Consents.
Territorial Authorities (Councils)
Territorial Authorities (Councils) administer local roads reserves, sewerage, building activity and consents, the land use and subdivision aspects of resource management, and other local matters.
From an architect’s point of view, these Councils control planning and building
approvals: Resource Consents and Building Consents.
City and District Plans
Each TA must have a City or District Plan with strategy, policies, plans and rules eg the
old Auckland City’s: “The District Plan is a legal document which sets out the Council’s
policies and strategies for managing the natural and physical resources of the Auckland
Isthmus for the future.”
Every TA has a different Plan and they are changed or updated every 10 years. The
public can make submissions on proposed Plans. The RMA encourages public input and
local decision making. As a new plan comes in, the zones and rules of both new and old
still apply.
How many and which TA’s also perform the functions of a Regional
Council?
Six Territorial Authorities (Auckland, Nelson, Gisborne, Tasman and Marlborough District
Councils and the Chatham Islands Council) also perform the functions of a Regional
Council: they are known as Unitary Authorities.
Supercity
The Auckland region had seven different Councils and Plans including a Regional
Council! This changed with the “Supercity” amalgamation and the Local Government
(Auckland Law Reform) Act 2010.
Auckland is amalgamating its previous city and district plans into one new Unitary Plan
(PAUP: Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan). At the same time they are creating new
strategy and policy (and zones and rules) aimed at creating a much denser high-rise
city.
This is not Auckland and New Zealand’s first local government amalgamation: before a
1989 amalgamation, Auckland was governed by dozens of City and Borough Councils
eg Mt Eden, Mt Roskill, Newmarket etc were all separate local bodies.
Zones
A Plan typically divides a district or city into zones (typically Business, Residential, Open
Space (parks and reserves), Special Purpose (schools, hospitals etc)) that govern use of
land, activities and development on a property eg houses, offices, shops, factories,
schools etc. An existing building that has little physical change but changes use or
activity (eg converting a bank into a bar or house into a brothel) will probably still require
Resource Consent.
