11. NICKY WAGNER (National) Link to this
to the Minister for the Environment
How will the Government’s changes to the Resource Management Act address the problem of drawn-out consent processes for major infrastructure projects where they commonly have local commissioner hearings and then a de novo Environment Court appeal?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) Link to this
The major change is to have a single consent hearing via the new Environmental Protection Authority, with a board of inquiry incorporating commissioners from both a local and a national perspective. There is a tight time line and limited appeal rights. This change will overcome the all-too-common occurrence of it taking years, and more, for decisions to be made on major consents. Many of those projects would have benefited the environment.
What examples can the Minister give of unsatisfactory processing of major consenting in the recent past that would have been helped by this more straightforward process?
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Link to this
There are so many examples that they would take up the rest of the House’s time today, but I will give a few. Project West Wind took over 3 years to get consented. I note that the Northern Gateway Toll Road north of Auckland took 10 years. The Whangamata marina took over 10 years, albeit we scrapped the power for the Minister to be able to interfere in the process. Another example is the Wellington Inner City Bypass, which took 15 years.