New Planning Laws to Replace RMA Pass First Reading in Major Reform Milestone

Bishop described the new system as a fundamental reset that will boost economic performance, cut red tape, and unlock opportunities across housing, infrastructure, and primary industries.

New Zealand has officially begun the legislative process to overhaul its decades-old resource management system, with the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill passing their first readings in Parliament. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court say the milestone marks a significant step toward replacing the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) with a more modern, efficient, and growth-focused framework.

Bishop described the new system as a fundamental reset that will boost economic performance, cut red tape, and unlock opportunities across housing, infrastructure, and primary industries.

“The Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill will deliver a modern planning system that lifts growth, productivity and living standards,” he said. “The two Bills will replace the failed Resource Management Act, which has slowed down energy and infrastructure projects, made it too hard to build homes, and created huge uncertainty for farmers and growers.”

A Two-Part Framework: Planning + Environment

Bishop emphasised that the two Bills have distinct yet complementary roles:

• The Planning Bill focuses on streamlining planning processes, reducing bureaucracy, and supporting development.

• The Natural Environment Bill sets clear environmental limits and protections while allowing more efficient allocation tools to evolve over time.

Together, they form the foundation of New Zealand’s new planning system.

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Key Features of the Planning Bill

The Planning Bill aims to simplify and speed up planning decisions through structural changes that directly tackle the RMA’s complexity. Its major reforms include:

• Consolidating over 100 existing council plans into 17 regional combined plans with standardised timeframes.

• Allowing more activities without requiring consent, reducing compliance burdens for households, developers, and landowners.

• Simplifying and standardising planning rules to improve national consistency.

• Restricting what councils can regulate—focusing only on genuine environmental impacts such as noise or shading.

• Raising the threshold for regulation, ensuring councils intervene only where necessary.

• Reshaping consultation requirements to prioritise the most meaningful engagement.

• Establishing a new Planning Tribunal to resolve smaller disputes quickly and fairly.

• Introducing a regulatory relief framework for landowners affected by overly restrictive planning controls.

Court said the Bill is grounded in strong protections for property rights, including mechanisms that prevent unreasonable burdens on landowners. “The Bill streamlines and rationalises planning and consenting so that far fewer consents will be required,” he said.

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Key Features of the Natural Environment Bill

The Natural Environment Bill provides the environmental framework that sits alongside the Planning Bill. It aims to ensure high-quality environmental outcomes without imposing disproportionate regulatory burdens.

Its major features include:

• Retaining the current RMA allocation model initially, while enabling more efficient and market-based tools over time.

• Requiring proportionate and targeted regulation, favouring voluntary or farmer-led approaches where appropriate.

• Upholding Treaty settlements, ensuring continuity and respect for established agreements.

• Extending regulatory relief to biodiversity controls when these significantly impact private property.

• Establishing mandatory environmental limits and clear national-to-local direction, ensuring communities understand what must be protected and how outcomes will be achieved.

Court said, “The RMA tried to do everything at once and did none of it well. These Bills replace it with two focused, fit-for-purpose laws.”

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Economic and Administrative Benefits

Independent analysis indicates that the new planning system could deliver significant economic gains:

• $13.3 billion in savings over 30 years through reduced administrative and compliance costs.

• Up to 46% fewer resource consents required, reflecting a more efficient and predictable planning environment.

Bishop said the reforms will make it easier to build the homes and infrastructure New Zealand needs, strengthen the primary sector, and protect the natural environment through a clearer, more rational system.

“These reforms are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to free ourselves from a millstone that has weighed on both our economy and our environment,” he said.

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Next Steps: Select Committee and Public Engagement

The Government is encouraging New Zealanders to engage with the Bills as they move into the select committee phase—considered the most important stage for public input. Councils, iwi, environmental groups, developers, businesses, farmers, and the wider public will all be able to submit feedback.

“The passage of the first reading is only the beginning,” Bishop noted. “The planning system affects all of us in different ways, and must be workable across every sector.”

The Government aims to pass both Bills into law in 2026, with national instruments to follow, shaping how the new planning system will operate across the country.