Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has called the West Coast’s first combined district plan an “absolute waste of time” as regional leaders sound alarm bells over soaring costs to develop it.
Jones said the Te Tai o Poutini Plan (TTPP) – which combines the Buller, Grey and Westland district plans into one document – may not be compliant with the Resource Management Act (RMA) reform currently before Parliament.
Jones told Local Democracy Reporting he would be speaking to RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop to pause the plan, as he had with the Waikato Regional Council’s planning document, until the new bills came into effect.
“It seems like an absolute waste of time to carry on with a document that could very well require significant panel beating after our new RMA comes in.”
Drafted over the past five years, the TTPP was currently in the mediation process with appellants. One-third of the plan had been operational since March, while the rest was subject to mediation.
The plan was incompatible with the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill, Jones said.
Jones said the RMA bills may set new environmental standards compared with those used in the TTPP.
“At the end of the day, these plans have to make sense so that we get rational outcomes in regional New Zealand and we do not hobble growth and development.”
While he agreed there were “compelling reasons” for the one plan to be in place, there was no point in imposing a plan that may soon become out of date.
“We must not quibble over relatively minor matters, given that there may be some compelling reasons as to why certain elements of the plan should remain, but the bigger picture is we have a brand-new planning regime coming in, so what is the point of imposing on the community a plan that may very well be out of date in a short period of time?”
Jones’ claims were put to Te Tai o Poutini Plan Committee chairman Rex Williams for comment, but he said any response would be “enormously complex”.
“It is still a bill, and it is not an act, so it just does not make sense to comment about something as complex as that and with the legislation yet to be confirmed,” Williams said.
Former West Coast Regional Council chairman Allan Birchfield has raised the alarm over the spiralling cost of the TTPP, amid fears of a cost blowout.
In a letter to the Greymouth Star, Birchfield said it may take another two years for the plan to become fully operational, with a price tag of over $10m.
Westland Mayor Helen Lash raised similar concerns at a TTPP Committee meeting this week, saying the project’s final cost might exceed $15m.
Birchfield also called for the plan to be paused, citing its ballooning costs.
“The one plan is likely to take at least another two years or more and will likely put the full cost of this plan over $10m. The only sensible option is to pause the plan process.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
