Sweeping Resource Management Act (RMA) changes signalled by central government are a "significant area of focus” for Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC).

Three discussion documents proposing changes to the rules governing councils' oversight of housing, infrastructure and development - among other areas - are currently open for public feedback.

The government calls them the biggest package of changes to national direction under the RMA in New Zealand history, and holds the view they will streamline or remove burdensome regulations holding back growth.

The changes would “help unclog the growth arteries of the economy”, Minister responsible for RMA reform Chris Bishop said, adding that they have been designed to be able to transition to a new RMA, once implemented.

The discussion documents currently open for feedback cover a dozen national policy statements and national environmental standards. 

QLDC plans to make a submission on the proposals but - ahead of that submission being lodged - gave little away about how it feels about them.

“Our policy team is currently working across the organisation to assess the proposals and their impact on specific areas of our work in the Queenstown Lakes District so that we can provide a submission on behalf of the community before the closing date,” a QLDC spokesperson said.

Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said while the RMA “can be slow, complicated, and frustrating at times” it was important not to “throw the good away with the bad”.

“The government’s proposed changes might make it easier for developers to build faster, but they also risk taking away local appeal rights and cutting the public out of decision-making,” he told the Wānaka App. 

“That means fewer chances for people to speak up through submissions or appeal rights and fewer checks on bad developments. The direction to more centralised decision-making has rarely served us well in our district and doesn’t always reflect what’s right for our people, towns or landscapes,” he said.

“We all want progress and improvement. But not at the cost of losing what makes this place special - or shutting communities out of decisions that affect them for generations.”

Meanwhile, councillor Lyal Cocks said he was optimistic about the process and thought it was “appropriate to put it out there for review”.

The RMA has become “quite cumbersome and expensive”, he said. “I think it’s timely to get the input from the population…and see if we can come up with a more appropriate and useful planning system.”

“I know there is a concern that if it goes too far we may lose some of the control over the protection of our landscapes and our environment,” he said, “but I’ll be interested to get more information and get more detail of what this will actually look like.”

The discussion documents are open for public feedback until July 27. Read them here.

PHOTO: Supplied