Marlborough lobbies Parliament on RMA reforms

Will a local framework for environmental planning policies survive Central Government deliberations? After investing two decades of work and millions of dollars, Marlborough District Council hopes so.

Toward that end, Mayor Nadine Taylor signed off on a submission to the Environment Select Committee recommending that the status quo remain in force.

She approved by delegation four minor changes to the final draft, which all Councillors had reviewed and discussed, ahead of the 13 February filing deadline.

Council’s 19 February meeting included a recap of the submission that generated universally supportive comments and just one small question, an inquiry from the mayor about Marlburians’ feedback.

The full open session – in which Council also put Easter Trading to the public and leased car parks to a contractor building a hotel in Blenheim Town Centre – took just 50 minutes.

As Strategic Planner Kim Lawson relayed in her Council report, Government introduced legislation in Parliament, the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill, which would repeal and replace the Resource Management Act 1991.

The RMA underpins Government approval of Marlborough’s second-generation combined planning documents, known as the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan (or PMEP) as it worked its way toward adoption. The new bill could change the legal basis and render the plan moot.

Impetus
The strategic planner described the local policies as providing a “genuine one-stop-shop for its community and resource users” by “simplifying and streamlining planning and consenting processes”.

Speaking about the plan the day after the meeting, the mayor said “ours is unique” in how it provides predictability and consistency across Marlborough.

“It, only in the last few months, has been made operative,” she explained, “which means it has been signed off by the Minister as approved for use. It is in place now on the cusp of reform of the RMA.

“The Council recognises that reform is required; we’re certainly not suggesting that is not the case. We’re really welcoming of a new and simplified RMA structure.
“But to avoid all of the effort, all of the investment, and all of the co-developing by the community being lost during that transition into the new RMA system, we would like to keep our Marlborough Environment Plan whole.”

Navigate www.marlborough.govt.nz for the 19 February meeting information, which includes a report on the submission.