National Directions reforms open for submissions

Proposed national policy statements and environmental standards will have a significant impact on land use planning and Resource Management Act consenting decisions by easing restrictions on development and economic activity. Our senior planner & team leader, Bryce Powell, explains.

Submissions are now open on proposed new and amended national policy statements and national environmental standards intended to improve the resource management system under the Resource Management Act.

If approved, the proposed legislation will have a significant impact on land use planning and resource management act (RMA) consenting decisions given all plans prepared under the RMA by regional and territorial authorities must be prepared in accordance with national policy statements and national environmental standards, and any decisions on resource consent applications must reference the proposed new legislation.

It's important to note this proposal is separate from the Government’s programme to replace the RMA, which is scheduled to take place in 2026 (see our overview of that programme in our previous article).

Four new packages

For efficiency and integration across related topics, the programme has been grouped into four packages: Infrastructure and Development, Primary Sector, Freshwater and Going for Housing Growth.

The packages are intended to comprise of a series of “quick wins” that address perceived shortcomings in the current planning framework and ease restrictions on development and economic activity.

The Going for Housing Growth package will be released later in June.

Each package contains many proposed changes to existing planning documents and proposed new planning documents that are open for public feedback. The Infrastructure and Development package includes amendments to four existing planning documents and four new planning documents.

Items of particular interest to our clients are:

• Providing for a nationally consistent approach to planning and consenting infrastructure through a proposed National Policy Statement for Infrastructure (NPS-I). As proposed, the NPS-I would require decisionmakers to recognise the benefits of infrastructure and the functional and operational needs of infrastructure. The proposal recognises “infrastructure supporting activities” (such as quarrying) in a similar way to the infrastructure itself

• Amendments to national policy direction to recognise the importance of renewable energy generation and transmission, and national regulations that make EV charging facilities a permitted activity, i.e. that doesn’t require resource consent

• Amendments to the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities (NES-TF) that propose to increase the permitted height and envelope of telecommunication aerials and ancillary structures to increase 5G coverage and address blackspots created by the taller and more compact built form of our towns and cities

• A new National Environmental Standard – Granny Flats (NES-GF) that will allow one single-storied dwelling per site of up to 70m² as a permitted activity, i.e. without requiring a resource consent

• Amendments to the National Policy Statement – Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL) to remove Land Use Classification 3 (LUC-3) from the NPS-HPL with immediate effect, while at the same time proposing alternative ways of protecting LUC-3 land in important food and fibre producing areas, such as Pukekohe and Horowhenua

• A proposed National Policy Statement for Natural Hazards that aims for a more proportionate management of natural hazards through planning documents rather than by a case-by-case consent process, which is rightly recognised as being expensive to administer

• Changes to the National Policy Statement – Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) and the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-F) that seek to replace a single objective based on the hierarchy of obligations under Te Mana O te Wai to a set of objectives, and to simplify provisions relating to natural inland wetlands. There are also proposed changes to fish passage regulations

Our comments

The increased focus on national direction is generally positive because it promotes consistency and provides the kind of direction that has been missing from planning practice.

However, if drafted poorly, national policy direction and regulations can be difficult to administer and can restrict reasonable outcomes that reflect the desires and values of local communities. For instance, freshwater policy has already been redrafted and amended several times over, and the regulations that apply to telecommunications facilities have failed to keep pace with the changes to technology and the urban environment that we have experienced over the last decade.

The proposed changes also risk being overly simplistic. For instance, there is an opportunity for the NES-GF to include regulations that also permit granny flats that are attached to the primary dwelling to make more efficient use of land within our towns and cities.

Also, limiting/restricting the ability of a council to control minimum glazing requirements on road-facing elevations of granny flats risks undermining other policies that are intended to create an attractive street environment or increase passive surveillance of public spaces.

Proposed changes to simplify and create a more workable definition of natural inland wetland in the NPS-FM are positive, as we have seen many proposals stymied where low values are present. The proposal includes removing induced wetlands (those that are developed unintentionally from human activity) from the NPS-FM and NES-F wetland provisions.

Consultation on the first three packages closes 11.59pm on Sunday 27 July 2025, and under the new process, amendments are expected to be in effect by the end of 2025.

To discuss further, please reach out to Bryce Powell

To make a submission, visit the Ministry for the Environment