Photo: 123RF, Andy Dean Photography
One of the key factors blamed for the runaway housing market is a shortage of supply, which is in turn, blamed, largely on red tape and outdated planning laws. So it's all eyes on reforming the Resource Management Act in order to free up land and speed up consents.
Infrastructure New Zealand says as the Government prepares to act it must identify and define the national strategic outcomes it wants to be prioritised. That's after it looked at best practice from 3 jurisdictions overseas - Scotland, Ireland and Hong Kong and released a white paper.
Hamish Glenn is Policy Director at Infrastructure New Zealand. Raewyn Peart, is Policy Director, at the Environmental Defence Society, and a member of the RMA review panel which undertook a comprehensive assessment of the RMA.