Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand (FMC) is strongly opposing proposed amendments to the Fast Track Approvals Act, warning they represent a further erosion of the public’s right to participate and of environmental safeguards.

The amendments come less than a year after the controversial legislation took effect, raising questions about both the quality of the original drafting and the government's commitment to democratic process.

Stripping Back Already Limited Rights

"The Fast Track Approvals Act was already one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in recent New Zealand history," said Megan Dimozantos, FMC President.

"These amendments appear designed to further limit public participation—seemingly because the Government thinks the original Act still gave New Zealanders too much say."

FMC points to the scale of the proposed changes as evidence of fundamental flaws in the original legislation.

"How can legislation introduced just nine months ago require such extensive amendments? The volume of changes suggests the Act was poorly thought through from the start—something FMC warned about when it was rushed through Parliament," Megan Dimozantos said.

Missing the Real Efficiency Gains

While the government claims the amendments will improve efficiency, FMC argues they fail to address genuine process bottlenecks. The Environmental Protection Authority is still not required to verify application accuracy before appointing expensive assessment panels—a gap that has caused recent delays.

"Ensuring applications are accurate before consuming further resources would genuinely speed up the process. Instead, these changes strip democratic rights while doing little to address real inefficiencies," Megan Dimozantos said.

Creating litigation risk

FMC believes these changes may actually leave decisions wide open to litigation. There is significant case law articulating that decisions like these must be made on fair, adequate and accurate information.

“By reducing the panel's ability to gather that information from community groups, NGOs and others, the Government is increasing the risk of litigation. That's a costly error for those businesses who are using the process, and a costly error for the taxpayer,” Megan Dimozantos said.

Call for Genuine Reform

FMC is calling for systemic reform that treats democratic participation and environmental protection as core elements of the approval system, rather than obstacles to be minimised.

"The solution isn't further restrictions on hearing and appeal rights. The solution is creating a system where democratic values and environmental considerations are embedded from the start, not treated as exceptions in every case.”

"New Zealanders should be concerned about this ongoing consolidation of power and erosion of their rights to have a say on projects that affect their environment and communities."

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