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Scoop
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Slash And Forestry Management Changes Proposed
Less than two weeks remain for the public to have their say on sweeping proposals to change many aspects of the RMA, including how forestry and slash are managed. Under proposed changes to the National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry (NES-CF), councils would be more restricted in their ability to set harder controls. Other proposals would require all forest harvests to have 'slash mobilisation risk assessments' as part of their harvest management plans, and/or change requirements around slash removal. Consultation on the proposed NES-CF runs until Sunday, 27 July 2025. The SMC asked experts to comment. Previous expert reactions on proposed RMA changes around housing are available here. Dr Steve Urlich, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management, Lincoln University, comments: 'Stabilising hill country is a national emergency as intense rainfall occurs more frequently. Recent cyclones and atmospheric rivers have led to loss of life, profound economic and infrastructure damage, and ecosystem degradation. 'Extensive erosion can occur on pastoral hill farms and clearcut forests. Cyclone Gabrielle highlighted public concern on the damage and dangers of forest slash. 'The Government tightened the national rules around slash removal in 2023, but is proposing to relax these due to cost and compliance issues. 'However, the proposals will not effectively reduce the risk to downstream communities and environments from slash and sediment. 'Extensive harvesting on gully heads often results in large volumes of slash and broken trees being left to the elements. This is because of self-assessed health and safety risks. 'The Government needs to amend the national rules to: Limit the size of clearcuts to <20% of catchment size. Retire gully heads, overly steep faces, and deep incised gullies. Prevent new plantings in these extremely high-risk areas. Require forest roads and skids to be engineered to withstand 1-in-100 year rainfall events 'The last point will be expensive, but the human, financial and ecological costs are currently intolerable.' No conflicts of interest. Dr Nathanael Melia, Senior research fellow, New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington; and Founding Director of Climate Prescience, comments: 'It is a positive move that the proposed amendments to the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry) Regulations (NES-CF) is open to consultation and seems to finally offer movement in the right direction. I have been aware of slash mobalisation following extreme rainfall since the 2018 Tolaga Bay Queen's Birthday Storm. It's 2025, and we are still discussing possible legislation to address these issues. 'The too-long, didn't read version is: MfE are suggesting that they may like to consider asking forest harvest operations if they wouldn't mind taking a second look in some cases before clearing the slope, please. 'It's good to see the action required being based on a site's Erosion Susceptibility Classification rather than a set of blanket rules that would restrict the industry's good actors. However, there is nuance here, some types of erosion that harvest can exacerbate are classed as 'low risk-no further action'. Others deemed more serious suggest 'further assessment required', but with seemingly no mandate for these assessments to be independent and free from conflicts of interest, I fail to see how this is helpful. 'Other recommendations suggest that harvest planners 'should' use past rainfall observations to assess slash management needs. This reflects that these recommendations are to be self refereed, based on estimates from recorded events rather than this new extreme climate we are in, and require zero material action. Other predictive measures of slash mobilisation are mentioned and put in the too hard basket. Worse, slope features physically present and observable that are consistent with active erosion that 'channel landslide to waterway' are considered not measurable, not a predictor of risk, and only of some consequence. 'The bibliography suggests that all the relevant material is known, but only the non-confrontational evidence is used in this draft. The good news is that this is open to consultation; however, there is a risk that these weak suggestions will be seen as red tape by some operators, who will want to lobby for a less restrictive environment. Meanwhile, there are very few independent experts to argue for higher standards required to keep slash away from the public and our sensitive environment.' No conflicts of interest. Mark Bloomberg, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Te Kura Ngahere New Zealand School of Forestry, University of Canterbury, comments: 'Firstly, I do not wish to comment in any way on the current situation in the Tasman region. The immediate focus there is protecting life and property, urgently mitigating dangerous situations and repairing flood damage. Commentary at this stage would be inappropriate. Part 2.2 of the Primary Sector discussion document. 'In the discussion document, the NES-CF regulations introduced in 2023 (regulations 69(5)–(7)) to manage slash on the forestry harvest cutover are considered 'costly to implement and not fit for purpose'. Proposed redress is to amend regulation 69 to require a slash mobilisation risk assessment (SMRA) for forest harvests as part of the existing harvest management plan, and/or amend regulation 69(5) to require all slash above an identified size to be removed from the forest cutover. 'These changes will not help. The problem is not 'slash' per se. The problem is the significant adverse effects of illegal discharges (slash, sediment, logging waste) from clear-felled forest lands. The proposals do not address the root causes of these illegal and catastrophic discharges from clear-felling sites on erosion-susceptible land. These root causes and their effects can be most directly avoided or mitigated by: Setting the activity status of clear-fell harvesting and matters for control or discretion in a way that allows regulators to properly regulate the risk from discharges, with no requirement for extra stringency in regional plans, i.e. the NES-CF should provide adequate stringency. Limiting the size and location of clear-felling coupes on erosion-susceptible land Developing a robust nationally-based standard for identifying and mapping landslide-susceptible areas, as well as landslide hazards and discharge flow paths downslope and downstream of clear-felling areas. There would need to be a major commitment by the government and the forestry industry to train, certify, and support a cadre of professionals capable of making these assessments.' Conflict of interest statement: 'Mark Bloomberg receives research and consultancy funding from the government's Envirolink fund and from local authorities and forestry companies. He is a member of the NZ Institute of Forestry and the NZ Society of Soil Science. He co-authored a recent article in The Conversation with Dr Steve Urlich of Lincoln University, which covers a lot of the same ground as the comments above.'
RNZ News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
'Kick in the guts': Government knocks back most of Christchurch council's housing plans
Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger says the government's knock-back of the council's housing plans is a "kick in the guts". Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon The mayor of Christchurch says a government knock-back on it's three year battle to create a custom carve-out of national housing intensification rules feels like a "kick in the guts", but others are welcoming the certainty of the move. On Friday, Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop issued a final decision on 17 of 20 recommendations the city council had referred after rejecting recommendations from an independent panel on the council's plan to shape a bespoke Christchurch response to national housing density policy). Minister Bishop rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. In 2021, the then-government released its National Policy Statement on Urban Development, a plan to ramp up housing intensification across most urban areas but focused on the five high growth centres of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, amid bi-partisan support for the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, though the National Party would later withdraw its backing . The bill contained Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which detail what development can occur without the need for resource consent, public notification and consultation in the areas identified as most in need of housing intensification. Those rules were intended to apply across all residential zones in those identified cities, unless "qualifying matters" made intensification inappropriate. In 2022, the council voted to reject the standards , despite warnings a commissioner could be appointed . Instead, the council began several years of consultation, submissions and hearings on Plan Change 14 - its proposed changes to the district plan that would give effect to the Medium Density Residential Standards, but in a way it claimed better acknowledged the character and context of the city. The council temporarily halted the process following the last election, and was later granted an extension until the end of this year on some aspescts of the plan change. Minister Bishop declined a further extension request last month. The council's stance culminated in an Independent Hearing Panel (IHP), which reported back in the middle of last year. The council accepted the majority of the IHP's recommendations, which were incorporated into the district plan. But it rejected various aspects of the proposed plan, making twenty counter-recommendations that went to the Minister. The minister announced on Friday he had rejected 14 of the council's recommendations, accepted three and deferred his decision on three more. Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop has rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins The decision means some parts of the city will be zoned higher-density housing and taller buildings, while the council will not be allowed to use several different "qualifying matters" to refuse consents even in high density zones - most controversially, one that hinged on the impediment of sunlight and proposed the Garden City should get an exemption because its southern location meant sunlight angles differ. Bishop's announcement locks in changes for areas in and around the CBD, and the "town centres" of Riccarton, Hornby and Linwood, which will be zoned high density residential. Taller buildings will be allowed within 600 metres of shopping areas in some suburbs - 32m (around ten storeys high) for the Hornby shopping area, 14m for high density residential zones surrounding the shopping area, 22m (around six storeys) for Linwood's town centre, and 14m for high density residential zones around it. The council's bids to create qualifying matters on the basis of sunlight access, recession planes (a line or plane which limits how close a building can be to a property boundary), or by location - such as 'the City Spine' (major transport routes) or Riccarton Bush - also failed. Nor did the minster accept areas around Peer Street in Ilam or the Papanui War Memorial Avenues should be excluded from density rules or allowed special consideration. The council proposals the minister did accept were Local Centre Intensification Precinct - intensification around eight of the city's commercial centres, including Barrington, Prestons and Wigram; increasing the building height overlay for the former stock yards site on Deans Avenue (a prime spot adjacent to Hagley Park, currently used as car parking for the Christchurch Hospital shuttle service) to up to 36m; and allowing high density residential zoning for Milton Street (the site of the Milton St substation, which Fletchers plans to build 80 homes on). All other council alternative recommendations were rejected in favour of the hearing panel recommendations. The minister has deferred decision-making for the heritage listing for Daresbury - a historic home in Fendalton; Antonio Hall - a derelict historic home on Riccarton Rd; and Piko Character Area - a Riccarton residential neighbourhood made up of many original state houses from the 1930s - until the council decided on the underlying zoning. "In putting these decisions forward to the government, we obviously wanted to get all of our alternative recommendations approved. So to only have three of them get the tick is a kick in the guts," mayor Phil Mauger said. "This plan change has been a huge undertaking for our city, and we've said right the way through that we want to get the best outcome we possibly can. This doesn't feel like the best outcome. "To that end, we'll keep working hard as a council, and there are still major decisions yet to be made when it comes to housing density and planning across much of Christchurch, so watch this space." The decisions come into effect immediately and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon New Zealand has one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the OECD. Urbanist collective Greater Ōtautahi welcomed the minister's decision. Chairperson M Grace-Stent said the decision finally brought some certainty after years of delays, decision making, submissions and hearing panels. "What we're most excited about is that Ōtautahi Christchurch is set up for the future, it has certainty around where it can grow and where it can continue to develop in the future." The decision will not mean apartment buildings spring up overnight, they said. "It's still going to be a slow developing process, just as our cities always continually change. This is just another step." The city also needed to turn its attention to improving public transport. "Ōtautahi Christchurch definitely needs a reevaluation of its transport system. We've been calling for the introduction of mass rapid transport across the city to support and facilitate the kind of growth and development that needs to happen, and to make sure that everyone has a choice about how they're getting around the city and aren't forced to just pick cars." Grace-Stent said the debate touched on ideas embedded in the national psyche about how and where New Zealanders live. They said the quarter-acre dream of a stand alone house on a large section is unsustainable and doesn't not always produce greater social outcomes. "Not everyone wants to live the exact same lifestyle - allowing more housing to be built allows people to make that choice for themselves. So if people want to be living on 1/4 acre block, they're allowed to, and if people want to be living in an apartment close to their friends and amenities and where they work, they also have that choice." They acknowledged that some medium and high density housing is not built to high standards, but said some of that was due to limitations of the current zoning process, which can mean the lowest bidder builds on these sites. "This is just the first step into assuring that everyone has a home that is liveable and that works for them, and is good quality. There also needs to be changes throughout the way that we are think about housing and building houses across the country," Grace-Stent said. The decisions, which come into effect immediately, are final and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. The council has until the end of the year to decide on density rules for the rest of the city. It was unable to confirm by deadline how much it had spent fighting the density rules, but had budgeted for $7 million dollars between 2021 and the middle of this year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Farmers hail end of 'unworkable' RMA, Greens say changes dismantle protections
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says the proposed changes are complex and technical but have a big impact on the economy. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins The government's proposed Resource Management Act changes have been met with jubilation from some quarters, and dismay from others. Public consultation has opened on a suite of different national directions across infrastructure, primary sector development, and freshwater. Announcing the proposals, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop described National Policy Statements as "the meat on the bones" of the RMA. "The changes are technical and complex, but they do have a big impact on the economy," he said. The changes would all sit under the RMA as it currently stands. The government was aiming to replace the Act next year. But it was confident these changes, despite their technical and complicated nature, would be able to transition into the new system. The proposed reforms were designed to be more practical and regionally-adaptable. The government's proposed replacing the NPS for Freshwater Management entirely, and "rebalancing" Te Mana o te Wai. The government wants to replace the Resource Management Act next year. Photo: Bill McKay It is a concept that puts the mauri of the water first, but the government said a rebalance towards all water users would give councils more flexibility in how they manage freshwater, and tailor monitoring and management to local conditions. Agriculture minister Todd McClay said councils had become frustrated by "burdensome" processes they had to go through, but working together would lead to better outcomes for freshwater and for productivity. Farmers were onboard, but environmentalists were concerned it could be an open invite to pollution. Federated Farmers welcomed the proposals, saying the previous government's freshwater rules were "completely unworkable" for farmers. Vice president and freshwater spokesperson Colin Hurst said councils were unclear on how they should interpret Te Mana o Te Wai. "It's very hard to work out exactly what that meant, certainly from the wider communities around the country," he said. Hurst said Federated Farmers was still digesting the proposals, but said it was important to strike a balance between water quality and economic activity. "We're looking forward to having a system that's more enabling, but still have a framework of the rules set up, a sort of national standard that if you meet the standard you should be able to carry on farming, but still conscious we're not degrading the environment and that kind of thing." Freshwater expert Dr Mike Joy said the consenting changes felt like half a lifetime's amount of work thrown out overnight. He said freshwater was getting worse and worse, but Te Mana o Te Wai - a key part of the 2020 National Policy Statement - was about putting freshwater ahead of big business. "It's basically being thrown out along with the rest of the protections in the Resource Management Act. "Most of our lowland rivers are not swimmable or fishable anymore" he said, and "things are going to get worse". He said the changes would not be friendly to farmers, and would instead make them "pariahs" for environmental failures. Dr Mike Joy is particularly alarmed at one proposed change in the RMA. Photo: supplied Joy was particularly alarmed at a change that would remove restrictions on non-intensive wetland grazing. "If you think of it as a human analogy, it's like we've lost 90 percent of our kidneys, and then we've only got 10 percent left, and then they want to destroy them by allowing cattle grazing on it. "If you think of it from a human health perspective, we would know that it's suicidal to do that." Tasman's mayor said the proposed RMA changes would take time to digest, but it was good the detail could now be debated. Tim King said people could now take a look, determine what their view was, and provide feedback. "People just want to understand what it is they can do and the process they go through for that what they can't do. And if this brings more clarity to people, then that'd be a good thing," he said. King believed people would welcome the simplicity, given the system had become "very complex and tends to require the use of consultants". He said councils would have to work under whatever "national direction" was decided, but could be the connection between that and the local communities. "We may well be the connection between the community, whether that's farmers, other landowners, the community in general, between these suggested changes and actually implementing them on the ground. "So obviously, we're going to have a really key focus on how that part of it might work." The Green Party, meanwhile, was angry and disheartened. Its environment spokesperson Lan Pham said it was a "comprehensive dismantling" of major protections that were in place. "It feels like we've been working for decades, literally, to get some basic functional environmental protections in place, and now this government is announcing these sweeping changes, which are essentially this comprehensive dismantling of these very meagre protections that we even had in place." Green Party environment spokesperson Lan Pham. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young She said the concerning thing about the changes was they touched on "every single environmental domain". "Everything from our forests to our fresh water to our oceans. "The power of the national direction is that it can basically enable this wholesale pollution, wholesale degradation, wholesale exploitation under the guise of growth, which this government is entirely blinkered in their thinking, and it's all for a quick buck." She said the current and future generations would be the ones who "pay the price" of this "environmental degradation and exploitation". Labour's environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said the government was undoing all the work Labour did to ensure rivers were clean enough to swim in. "Labour had a goal of swimmable rivers within a generation to deal with pollution, so that your kids and grandkids wouldn't get sick just from going swimming," she said. "National seem determined to allow polluters to profit from our environment while also destroying it." Brooking did however say it was good the community would get to have a say, unlike with projects approved by fast-track legislation. Coalition partner ACT wants Te Mana o te Wai and national bottom lines scrapped entirely, leaving regional councils free to set their own standards. Rebalancing Te Mana o te Wai is a coalition commitment, but ACT leader David Seymour said consultation would be a chance for those who want to get rid of it altogether to have their say. "This is an opportunity for people who basically think Te Mana o Te Wai is nonsensical, it's vague, it really stops ironically people from building their mana, from using the land in a responsible way to grow our prosperity as a country. "We believe it's time for such a concept to be dumped." There were also proposals to amend provisions to allow for wetland quarrying and mining provisions. Essentially, in order to build and maintain infrastructure, the government wants quarries and mines but the RMA had made consenting the projects too difficult. Aggregate and Quarry association CEO Wayne Scott said the National Policy Statements for Indigenous Biodiversity and for Highly Productive Land used terms like "aggregate extraction," which were undefined, as opposed to "quarrying activities," which was the National Planning Standards definition for what they do. "The difference is that aggregate extraction is just actually extracting material out of the ground. It doesn't take any other ancillary activities that are associated with quarrying," he said. "So we've seen that resource consent applications have been unable to be lodged because the activity was more than just extracting aggregate. "So that change is going to be quite significant." He also pointed to "some superfluous words" used in the land NPS that said the exemption did not apply if it could be otherwise sourced in New Zealand. "We're not quite sure what those words meant, but the interpretation was that if you can source it elsewhere, then the development can't proceed, and that has stifled a number of core applications around the country." Scott said it was important to have aggregate sources close to the market, but said they do not "just pop quarries anywhere for the sake of it" and there would only be quarries where there was demand. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
29-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Govt launches Resource Management consultation
The government is billing its Resource Management consultation as the country's biggest ever change to national direction. It comes hot on the heels of the fast track changes and leading up the full RMA replacement due next year. Announcements were released under six ministers' names on everything from housing to mining to agriculture - and some of it's got environmental groups up in arms. Political reporter Russell Palmer has more.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Mohali DC pulls up agency over fire at Sec 91 legacy waste dump
1 2 Mohali: Mohali deputy commissioner Komal Mittal during a surprise inspection found found Sector 91 Legacy Waste Dump site on fire and strongly reprimanded the operating agency for negligence. She directed the officials to install windrows enabling Methane to escape out of waste dump preventing fire. She visited Sector 91 Legacy Waste Dump and the Jagatpura Waste Processing Plant on Thursday to review the progress of waste management initiatives spearheaded by the Mohali municipal corporation. The DC took serious note of the agency's failure to install windrows—crucial for controlling methane emissions—which she said directly contributed to the fire. "If windrows are not constructed, there is no point in clearing the waste. Fire leads to serious pollution, defeating the purpose of our waste remediation efforts," she warned. Providing further details, Mittal said the legacy dump in Sector 91 contains approximately 90,000 metric tonnes (MT) of accumulated waste. With four trommel machines currently in operation, around 600 MT of waste is being processed daily, and the site is expected to be cleared within four months. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Addressing the broader issue of waste management, the DC underscored the critical role of waste segregation. "Effective segregation of wet and dry waste at the source is the cornerstone of a clean and sustainable city," she said. She called on resident welfare associations (RWAs), bulk waste generators, and the general public to participate actively in ensuring proper waste disposal. Mittal directed the municipal corporation to verify that household waste is segregated before it reaches the Resource Management Centres (RMCs). This, she explained, would enhance processing efficiency and reduce the burden on the city's waste infrastructure. At the Jagatpura waste processing plant, the DC reviewed treatment protocols and interacted with contractors and municipal staff. Expressing satisfaction with the progress, she reaffirmed the administration's commitment to building a cleaner, greener Mohali. Municipal officials briefed the DC about the current waste management framework. Waste from most RMCs, except Shahi Majra, is being transported to a facility in Ambala. However, once fully operational, the Shahi Majra and Jagatpura plants—both managed by the same contractor—will handle the entire daily load of 100 MT of fresh waste generated in Mohali. DC Mittal also called for the optimal use of bailing machines at the RMCs. Officials informed her that 10 out of 14 machines are currently functional, and the remaining four will be installed at key locations by next week. The visit concluded with a strong message from the Deputy Commissioner, urging all stakeholders to prioritise environmental responsibility and work collaboratively to transform Mohali into a model city for sustainable waste management. MSID:: 121344000 413 |
