Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Planning report supports LGNZ’s thinking

Planning report supports LGNZ’s thinking


The Productivity Commission’s new report on urban planning contains many good suggestions for improving the ways New Zealand cities are planned, Local Government New Zealand says.

Better urban planning, released today, is a review of New Zealand’s urban planning system and considers fundamentally different ways of organising and servicing cities.

“The Productivity Commission has done an effective job identifying problems and proposing solutions. The draft report provides contains some useful proposals for a future planning system – one that works better for our cities.

“Whatever framework we arrive at, it needs to allow for integrated decision-making across the natural and urban environments,” LGNZ Vice President, Lawrence Yule says.

Many of the Commission’s draft recommendations are aligned with those included in LGNZ’s recently-released eight point plan for reforming the resource management system. The report recommends greater use of spatial plans as a tool. LGNZ supports greater use of spatial plans as a tool especially in high-growth areas to enable better coordination of roads and social infrastructure such as schools.

Stuart Crosby, Chair of LGNZ’s Metro Sector and Mayor of Tauranga, says LGNZ is particularly pleased to see the recommendations that include alternative tools to fund infrastructure and supplement the existing tools available to local government. This reinforces the finding of LGNZ’s 2015 Local Government Funding Review which recommended a greater range of tool to incentivise development.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

LGNZ also agrees we need:
· a presumption in favour of development in urban areas, subject to clear environmental limits;

· a focus on the “culture” of planning;

· to remove legislative barriers to wastewater and road pricing and empower councils to make these decisions in consultation wit their communities;

· to be able to capture value uplift when land is rezoned;

· to reconsider who can appropriately participate in our resource management processes and who can appeal decisions; and

· a change to the law so the planning system is more responsive.

“Changes of these types would mean we can more quickly get plans in place to respond to pressing issues or to new information. The local government sector has been saying this for some time,” Mr Crosby says.

However LGNZ has concerns about the Commission’s draft proposal to create a permanent centralised Independent Hearings Panel to hear submissions and make decisions on reviews of resource management plans.

“Decisions on policy and plans should be made by local elected members, who are ultimately accountable for their decisions and are connected to their communities, although we agree local authorities should retain the choice to use independent hearings commissioners to make decisions – which they often do. The point we are making is this must be a local choice,” Mr Crosby says.

LGNZ also agrees with the report’s finding for a stronger partnership between central and local government to achieve better planning and development outcomes, and sees the recommendations about the need for ‘a whole of government view’ are particularly important – for instance how an aspiration of improving water quality is to be balanced with growing a city. These decisions are challenging locally and nationally.

*Ends*

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.