Goudie Sandra: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — In Committee 
Goudie Sandra: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:623;Page:18936] 
SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I hear words about giving the public a say in how the land should be used but I put it to the Committee that we have actually pre-empted that right. The way in which the public has a say on how this land can be used is firstly through the Resource Management Act process for the provisions of their district plan or regional plan and secondly through the resource consent process regarding that. Or if the regional council is looking at making any changes that affect the use of that land the council should go through a public consultation process. So perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and explain why we are now giving regional councils and local authorities the opportunity to circumvent the Resource Management Act and the public process on the use of land by allowing those bodies to come straight to the House and put in legislation that circumscribes the conditions of use in regard to that land without that public input. 
The Wellington Regional Council by having come straight to Parliament has denied the public a say—both through the requirements under the Resource Management Act in terms of planning and through the Local Government Act in terms of consultation—in what they want to see happening with that land. The public does not now have that right because this bill specifies that the activities on this land are to be for “electrical installations or works for renewable energy”. That has now been specified. The Wellington Regional Council did that and Parliament supported the council doing that. But by doing that the council has actually denied the public the due process of the Resource Management Act and its planning provisions and we in turn have assisted achieving that outcome. 
So does that mean that any regional or local authority can now use a local bill to pre-empt that public process and circumscribe activities that it in its wisdom—without going back to the public—wants to see happen with the land? For that is exactly what has happened here. 
Perhaps the Minister might like to take a call because after all the Resource Management Act does have a planning process. That planning process is a public process. It means that local communities determine for themselves what activities they want to see in their areas and on the lands that are held within those areas. Yet this bill denies them that Resource Management Act process. 
It also denies them the opportunity to look at future planning and at the sorts of things they might like to see happen on land within their communities of interest. The Local Government Act 2002 is looking at 10-year plans—long-term plans and visions for communities. Yet this particular area of land—and I understand it is substantial—will have to be excluded from that process. 
So perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and explain the efficacy of using parliamentary process to establish a set of activities that a regional or local authority believes in its wisdom to be necessary without the local body having gone through a public process—a full public process—under the Resource Management Act for planning purposes and the Local Government Act for long-term community planning. Neither of those processes has taken place. That has not happened here and it cannot happen now because the use has been specified. The activities for this land have been ring-fenced. 
In the select committee process we were concerned that the public did have a say on those matters but we overlooked the fact that we had circumscribed the areas on which they could comment and had not allowed the opportunity for them to consider completely different activities altogether rather than renewable energy. So perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and explain why local bills are circumventing the proper Resource Management Act process and the Local Government Act 2002 process for community planning.