Resource Management Amendment Act Passed

  • Simon Upton
Environment

The efficiency of the Resource Management Act will be improved by a raft of minor technical improvements which came into force yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Hon Simon Upton, said today.

Mr Upton said the strengthened provisions against trade competition were one of a number of sensible improvements. "The Government is concerned with the way the Act has been used by trade competitors. For too long commercial enterprises such as service stations and
supermarkets have been using the Act to protect themselves from trade competition. The Amendment will make this much more difficult.

"The Resource Management Act is concerned with managing the effects of activities on the environment, not protecting the position of business", he said.

Other changes included in the Act are provisions that will improve the effectiveness of abatement notices, tidy up confusion over how to deal with unlawfully reclaimed coastal land, and more effectively control marine pollution.

The marine pollution provisions will come into force early next year and this will allow New Zealand to ratify the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

The Amendment Act includes one policy change: a new regime for the collection of rentals for the occupation of coastal space.

In the past, any rentals collected by Regional Councils were passed to the Crown. With the Resource Management Amendment Act 1997 a Regional Council will be able to keep any rental it decides to collect, with the proviso that any money collected must be used to promote the
sustainable management of the coastal marine area.

"This amendment follows on from an extensive consultation programme and will provide a more effective and regionally responsive mechanism," concluded the Minister.