Green Building Council Responds to Planning Announcement

4 September 2017

New Zealand Green Building Council Responds to National Party Planning Announcement

Responding to the National Party’s announcement this afternoon on new urban planning laws, Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the New Zealand Green Building Council, said:

“Our cities, our homes, our infrastructure and our environment are all hugely important issues, so it’s great that the National Party is talking about them.

“We broadly support measures that improve the quality, not just the quantity, of new urban development. The RMA is not doing this currently and needs to change. But ditching the RMA should not just be about speeding up development.

“National say the new legislation will include safeguards around environmental impacts such as air pollution and storm water runoff. With the significant issues of flooding and air quality these cannot be token. They need to include social impacts as well.

“Any new planning legislation should make cities more liveable, less car dependent, improve public transport and improve the public amenities needed when cities densify such as parks and schools. This is what New Zealanders want and deserve.”

ENDS

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