On 9 December 2025, the Government introduced to the House two new Bills to replace the RMA. As signalled (refer to Government releases blueprint for resource management reform), the core functions of the RMA have been split into:
- The Planning Bill, which focuses on planning and regulating the use, development, and enjoyment of land; and
- The Natural Environment Bill, which focuses on the use, protection and enhancement of the natural environment.
These Bills are substantial, at 452 pages (Planning Bill) and 292 pages (Natural Environment Bill) respectively.
The Government's proposed new resource management system aims to enable 10 major shifts from the status quo:
- Fewer, simpler consents: more decisions will be made at the plan level rather than the consenting level
- Fewer and faster plans: New Zealand will be covered by 17 regional combined plans, which should only take two years to develop
- Spatial planning: 30-year regional spatial plans (as part of the regional combined plans) will identify areas for growth, infrastructure and protection
- Clearer and more consistent national policy direction: each Act will have one national policy instrument with national standards sitting underneath it
- A more proportionate system: consent conditions must be necessary and proportionate to effects
- More standardisation: reduction in the number of zones with planned national standards
- Consultation: clear requirements on who needs to be consulted and when
- Regulatory relief: councils will need to provide relief mechanisms (such as rates relief, cash contributions or otherwise) if imposing restrictions such as for heritage or indigenous biodiversity
- Faster conflict resolution: a Planning Tribunal will be established to address lower-level disputes in order to reduce costs and increase speed
- Better environmental protection: community decision-making over water quality will be enabled and enforcement responsibilities will be centralised.
The proposed Bills seek to achieve these goals through:
- the Planning Bill / Act by:
- establishing a Planning Tribunal to resolve lower-level disputes, such as notification, consent condition interpretation and regulatory relief
- reducing the workload of the Environment Court to proposed plan appeals, abatement and enforcement notices, declarations on interpretation of plans
- introducing one plan per region – a regional combined plan – with all plans for districts in the region prepared at the same time (these plans will instead form chapters of the regional combined plans, rather than being standalone district plans)
- giving regions one year to create the spatial plan and territorial authorities another year to complete the land use chapters within the regional combined plan
- upholding Treaty settlements, and including iwi authority engagement at the spatial plan and national policy direction level.
- the Natural Environment Bill / Act by:
- making regional councils responsible for monitoring compliance with standards, rules and permits, and for overseeing compliance and enforcement
- giving the Environmental Protection Authority the option of also undertaking some enforcement functions (the Government has indicated it will introduce a centralised agency by 2029, but this is not provided for in the Bill)
- enabling regional councils to allocate natural resources through natural environmental plans (there will be a natural environment plan for each region that will form part of the combined regional plan)
- enabling the use and development of natural resources within environmental limits.
The Government has indicated that the Bills will be passed into law in mid-2026. Consents under the RMA that are due to expire will be extended until at least mid-2031. New consents under the new system will be available for applications from mid-2026.
A select committee process will be followed to consider the Bills. The due date for submissions has not been announced yet, but will be announced on introduction of the Bills.
Our RMA reform experience
Our national environment and resource management team has extensive experience in previous RMA-reform cycles and has been closely following the development of this new legislation, and its likely implications. We are well positioned to advise clients on what these changes might mean for their upcoming projects or existing undertakings and responsibilities. Please contact a member of our team if you would like to discuss the potential implications of the proposed RMA reforms and what they may mean for you.
