Parliament’s Environment Select Committee has recommended the Government proceed with the development of the Natural and Built Environments Bill. The recommendation is one of 37 the select committee has made as part of its Inquiry on the Natural and Built Environments Bill: Parliamentary Paper. The inquiry was initiated by the Government to facilitate the development of the Natural and Built Environments Bill.
We are encouraged by the recommendation that the purpose clause of the Bill should give more prominence to the built environment, more clearly linking the ensuing Act’s purpose to outcomes for housing, infrastructure, and cultural heritage in relation to the built environment. The select committee’s report can be accessed here.
This latest step is just part of what will be an extensive, drawn-out reform of our resource management system. As we reported in the December edition of InfraRead, the full transition to a new resource management system will take 10 years. The Strategic Planning and the Natural and Built Environments Bills are likely to be introduced to Parliament in the third quarter of this year.
Infrastructure New Zealand is continuing its engagement with the Ministry for the Environment on the reform process.