Auckland City Council's discovery that it was spending $500,000 on unnecessary bureaucratic regulation will be no surprise to those like the ACT party who have been claiming from the beginning that the RMA was a major factor in NZ's high compliance costs, says ACT Regional Development Spokesman Owen Jennings.

"The suggestion that residents will no longer be required to obtain a consent for trimming trees is obviously a small step in the right direction of reducing compliance costs and reforming the RMA.

"The council will be surprised how much money it has spent generally on compliance costs under the RMA - for so little effect.

"This discovery by Auckland City Council is a salient message to other councils and it is essential that they follow Auckland's example. As Aucklanders have learned, many of these petty regulations are actually counter productive.

"The Deputy Mayor is correct, few trees are being planted and the environment is suffering as a result of busy body regulators thinking they know best about what people should be allowed to do on their own property.

"Imagine what benefit would have flowed had the $500,000 been spent planting trees?"

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