Auchinvole Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Auchinvole Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:657;Page:6273] 
5.  
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National—West Coast - Tasman) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: What steps is the Government taking to ensure a smooth transition in the implementation of the first phase of the resource management reforms? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 The passage of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act delivers on John Key’s and National’s pre-election commitments and is the biggest change to the Resource Management Act since its inception in 1991. We have an important and urgent job to communicate to councils and resource management practitioners the changes in order to ensure a smooth transition. The Ministry for the Environment has scheduled 22 public meetings—from Whangarei to Invercargill—which will assist in implementing the changes. Over 1500 people have already registered for those consultations. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: What reports has the Minister received on those who are already advocating reversal of the changes in the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I have noted reports of a commitment made by Labour to repeal the changes relating to trees. Those comments show that Labour has ignored the electorate’s rejection of the previous Labour Government’s nanny State and that Labour remains the party of unnecessary bureaucracy. I look forward to campaigning in Auckland in 2011 on National freeing up its citizens so that they do not have to get a resource consent to be able to trim a tree. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Is it correct that Aucklanders will be able to remove trees from 1 October but for councils to protect trees they will have to individually go through a scheduling process for each tree and that developers will now have a free-for-all on Auckland trees? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: No those are all myths. Firstly from 1 October Aucklanders will not need resource consents for trimming their trees but they will still require a consent if they seek to remove their trees. Secondly councils do not have to go through an individual process for each tree. Most councils round New Zealand have protected trees by having a single plan change that identifies significant trees or significant groups of trees in their community and I expect the Auckland councils to do the same. Thirdly developers do not have a free-for-all. Resource consents are required for developments and it is often a condition of consents and at councils’ discretion to protect trees. Thousands of trees have been protected by other councils all round New Zealand with that method. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Can the Minister confirm that New Zealand was rated by the World Bank as the second easiest country in the OECD in which to do business and the easiest country in which to get a building consent while our threatened species and our water quality continue to decline and has he not got the balance wrong making it easier for developers and harder for those protecting the environment? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: I am happy to table for the member the IMD analysis that shows that in the area of environmental law New Zealand is ranked as one of the most bureaucratic of all countries in the way we deal with it. The Government has a strong commitment to issues like water quality and protecting biodiversity but we differ from the Green Party in that we believe that bureaucracy does not automatically equate to good environmental law. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: In respect of the unfinished business of phase one otherwise known as phase two is the Minister likely to replace regional government with his new national Environmental Protection Authority? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: The Government is in the early stages of working through phase two of the Resource Management Act reforms. They include the establishment of the Environmental Protection Authority. The Government and Cabinet have not yet made decisions on the details of the functions of the authority. The Government has no ambitions to radically change the structure of regional councils as part of phase two of the Resource Management Act reforms. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Which of the Minister’s statements should the public believe: his statement to the select committee that he did not expect the bill to result in fewer applications being notified but rather wanted to reduce paperwork for councils having to justify their notification decisions or his statement in the Chamber and to the media yesterday that he does expect fewer consent applications to be publicly notified? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Firstly I expect from this important reform fewer resource consents to be required. That is a key objective. Secondly it is the expectation of the Government that there will be an increase in the number of limited notified consents. For smaller consents involving immediate neighbours it is our expectation from these law changes that there will be a greater use of the limited notification procedure. In respect of those consents that are non-notified the most important objective is to remove the huge amount of work that council officials had to do previously to justify their decision for non-notification.