Embedding a ‘yes’ culture: The time of saying ‘no’ is coming to an end, Chris Bishop says

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

The Government will stop councils “wasting their officers’ time and their ratepayers’ money” on plan changes in advance of a new planning system coming into force, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says.

Bishop made the announcement on Wednesday during a conference in Christchurch for mayors and councillors from across the country.

The Government is replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA) later this year with two new Acts, one to focus on land-use planning, the other focusing on the natural environment.

Councils will have to stop any plan reviews and changes for which hearings have not already started as soon as possible, which Bishop said would “enable them to focus on critical work to prepare to transition to the new system”.

“As a country, we have to start saying ‘yes’ a lot more, and ‘no’ a lot less,” he told delegates at the Local Government New Zealand SuperLocal conference, held at the Te Pae convention centre.

“The stakes are big: can we build a system that responds to need, not Nimbys? One that treats enabling land use as an economic necessity, not a nice-to-have?

“We are not interested in tinkering. We are building a planning system where growth of our urban areas, infrastructure and primary sector is not just allowed – it’s expected. Where councils are accountable for delivering capacity, not blocking it.

“The time for excuses is over. The culture of ‘yes’ starts now.”

‘Out with the gold plating’

Speaking to a room full of about 600 mayors, councillors and council staff from across the country, Bishop conceded that central government had been a “bad partner” over the years and “not made it easy for you”.

But he was bold in his criticisms of local government.

“It is clear to me that New Zealanders have serious questions about the performance of local government. The Government shares those concerns.

“Restrictive planning rules holding back economic growth and exacerbating the housing crisis, crumbling local infrastructure, rapidly rising rates, and a reputation for largesse have led Kiwis to question whether local government is fit for purpose.”

Bishop said the local government sector had been “crying out” for more financing and funding tools, and a simpler planning system, and that the Government was providing them.

“We are getting our house in order. Its time you sorted yours out.

“I want you to make hard decisions about your spending. People don’t elect you to make the easy decisions – they elect you to make the tough ones.

And in an attack on councils having a role funding the arts sector - all the while painting a vision of a more austere built landscape - Bishop said it was “OK to build a local road without spending hundreds of thousands on artworks”.

“Not everything you do has to be an architectural masterpiece. Not everything has to win awards for being the most sustainable or the most innovative or the most beautiful.

“Simplicity is smart. Complexity is costly… The only awards your projects should be winning are for cost efficiency and effectiveness.

“That’s where central government is heading. We’re moving to modular, standardised designs for school property and for hospital facilities. I’ve told NZTA to get back to basics with road building. Simplicity and cost-effectiveness are in and gold plating is out. New Zealand can’t afford it.

Simplifying the rules

Bishop said the changes would simplify rules that had had far-reaching effects, such as meaning the time taken to consent a major project had doubled from 2014 to 2019, and meant $1.3 billion a year is spent on resource consents.

“Plans used to be simple,” he said. “In the 1970s, when New Zealand building numbers were some of the highest they had ever been, the Wellington and Christchurch district plans were less than 200 pages long.

“By the early 2000s, both cities had plans in excess of 1000 pages, and were violently complex. Now, they are even longer.”

The new system would be “narrower” in its approach to the management of the effects decisions have, he said.

“No more council officers telling someone how their living room should look. Or where their washing line should go. Or what way their front door should face.”

National set standards around land used zones will also be brought in.

“New Zealand does not need 1,175 different types of zones. In Japan, which uses standardised planning, they have only 13 zones.”

The end of “crippling” planning

Bishop said the RMA had “crippled” New Zealand for decades, and planning system reform was well under way to make it “easier to get things done”.

“We’ve already made a series of quick and targeted amendments to provide relief to our primary sector and passed the Fast-track Approvals Act to speed up the consenting process for projects with regional or nationally significant benefits…

“I want to be clear that stopping plan changes does not mean stopping progress on work that supports the Government’s priorities in areas like housing, intensification and urban development, and councils will have pathways to continue with work that unlocks housing growth.”

The new system is intended to provide a framework that will make it easier to plan and deliver infrastructure, as well as protect the environment.

Under the RMA, councils have to review their plans and policy statements every 10 years.

Despite the RMA’s demise being on the horizon, this stipulation means many councils have to carry out “time-consuming, expensive plan-making processes” under the Act, many of which will not be completed by the time the new system comes in in 2027.

“Rather than let these pricey, pointless planning and policy processes play out, the Government will be giving councils clarity on where to focus their efforts while they await the new planning system,” Bishop said.

The Government will now suspend councils’ requirements to review their plans and policy statements and to implement national planning standards.

It will also extend the restriction on notifying freshwater planning instruments, put in place last year.

“Councils will be required to withdraw plan reviews and changes that have not started hearings as soon as possible and within 90 days of the law coming into effect,” Bishop said.

“Any rules that have immediate legal effect will continue to apply until the plan review or plan change is withdrawn by councils and then those rules will no longer apply.

“We will also stop new plan changes and reviews from being notified, except where there is good reason for them to continue.

“This decision has been made after careful consideration, and a recommendation from an expert advisory group that the Government relieve some of the workload of councils in the lead-up to the new resource management system.”

There are some exemptions, including private plan changes initiated by landowners and developers, and streamlined planning processes.

Plans that address natural hazard management and those required by Treaty settlement agreements will also be exempt.

Consultation on changes to the regulations that sit under the RMA are already open, and next month a second RMA Amendment Bill is expected to pass into law.

Bishop said the amendment would make important short-term changes that would make it “quicker and simpler to consent renewable energy, boost housing supply, and reduce red tape for the primary sector.”

The new legislation is on track to come into force in 2027.

Bishop had a key message for those at the conference: “There are big economic benefits for New Zealand and your local communities if we get this right.”