8 August 2014
ACT Leader, Dr Jamie Whyte

Resource Management Act - It’s a failure - time to chuck it out – start again

"It is time the politicians admitted the RMA is a failure," said ACT Leader Dr Jamie Whyte.

National's Nick Smith has promised another series of minor amendments to the RMA saying the law is holding back the country's economy.

He is just tinkering with a wreck.

No one thinks these amendments to Marine reserves and the like will overcome the problems of cost, delay and green tape that now affects all property owners.

When National passed the Resource Management Act in the early 1990’s the country was promised faster more streamlined planning.

That promise has been forgotten by both Labour and National.

The RMA is been used by local councils to extend more and more entangling regulations giving Council’s powers that parliament never intended.

ACT believes Parliament should admit it is a 30 year experiment that has failed and we should start again using the common law as the basis for environmental protections.

ENDS

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