TrustPower supports amendments to RMA

TrustPower supports amendments to Resource Management Act

TrustPower congratulates and supports the Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate change, Hon Pete Hodgson, and the Minister for the Environment, Hon Marian Hobbs, in promoting an amendment to the Resource Management Act (RMA) to support the Government's climate change and energy policies.

The proposed amendments will help guide Local Authorities, when considering resource consent applications under the RMA, to take into account the benefits of renewable energy over fossil fuel burning generation plants. Until now, Councils considering consent applications have typically not considered the benefits of renewable energy as being important in consent applications. In fact, it has been typically easier to gain consents for a fossil fuel generation station than it has for renewable generation, due to the generally larger environmental complexities of renewable generation.

The amendments will help to redress the balance by making climate change and the use of renewable electricity generation specific issues for consideration by Councils in hearing resource consent applications.

© Scoop Media