Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jun 2, 2023 10:09:36 GMT 12
Graham Adams: “CO-GOVERNANCE FOR YOUR DECK!”
As Farrar put it: “Under this proposed law, powers over planning and when a resource consent is required will be stripped from local councils and handed to 15 new co-governed ‘Regional Planning Committees’. That means the decisions about the building consent for your deck, new home, factory, your farm’s water take, and how your city or town is planned will be made by people you cannot vote out.”
The new laws have been damned as “co-governance for your deck.”
Last September, Minister for the Environment David Parker made a show of having stepped back from co-governance in the legislation. It looked like a feint, and it was. While co-governance appears at first glance to be a less prominent feature than in Three Waters, looks can be deceiving.
In Three Waters, the 10 Regional Representative Groups — which set the overarching strategy for each region — will be made up of equal numbers of unelected iwi representatives and council members. Under the new RMA replacement laws, Regional Planning Committees will consist of a minimum of six members selected by local government, local hapū and iwi, and possibly central government. At least two members must be representatives from iwi and hapū and at least one member may be appointed by each local authority in the region. Regions get to decide how many members the committees have in total beyond these minimums.
However, the local authorities and iwi/hapū group that will decide how many seats will be allocated on a Regional Planning Committee must reach agreement on its composition. And while the current RMA law stipulates that decision-makers must “take into account” the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Natural and Built Environment Bill goes further and requires decision-makers to “give effect” to them. Given the Waitangi Tribunal has made it clear that to satisfy the “partnership” principle a 50/50 split is required, two seats will be just the starting point.
The expanded role for Māori does not end there. Anyone exercising functions under the Natural and Built Environment Act “must recognise, and provide for, the responsibility and mana of each iwi and hapū to protect and sustain the health and well-being of te taiao [environment] in accordance with kawa, tikanga [protocol] and matauranga [knowledge] in their rohe [tribal area]”.
Consequently, an iwi or hapū can, at any time, produce a Te Oranga o te Taiao (environmental wellbeing) statement to the relevant Regional Planning Committee. What weight these statements will carry is not specified but for a government not averse to adding contentious clauses after public submissions have closed there will be plenty of time for their role in the legislation to be expanded. Anyone acquainted with the vast power of Te Mana o Te Wai statements in Three Waters will be alert to this possibility.
The bill also establishes a National Māori Entity to provide independent monitoring of decisions made under the Natural and Built Environment Act or the Spatial Planning Act. This body’s proposed role in relation to the courts, and other serious concerns, led the Chief Justice, Helen Winkelmann, to take the extremely unusual step of making a written submission to the select committee in February.
Noting that “monitored entities” are required to respond to the reports the National Māori Entity prepares, Winkelmann pointed out that the courts, “appear to fall within the scope of the… definition of monitored entities. We assume this is an error in drafting or an oversight. Providing for decisions of the Environment Court to be subject to review by the Entity would be inconsistent with New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements. Court decisions are appropriately challenged by way of appeal, not by way of review by a statutory entity. Such a review would be constitutionally unprecedented and problematic....
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2023/06/graham-adams-co-governance-for-your-deck.html
As Farrar put it: “Under this proposed law, powers over planning and when a resource consent is required will be stripped from local councils and handed to 15 new co-governed ‘Regional Planning Committees’. That means the decisions about the building consent for your deck, new home, factory, your farm’s water take, and how your city or town is planned will be made by people you cannot vote out.”
The new laws have been damned as “co-governance for your deck.”
Last September, Minister for the Environment David Parker made a show of having stepped back from co-governance in the legislation. It looked like a feint, and it was. While co-governance appears at first glance to be a less prominent feature than in Three Waters, looks can be deceiving.
In Three Waters, the 10 Regional Representative Groups — which set the overarching strategy for each region — will be made up of equal numbers of unelected iwi representatives and council members. Under the new RMA replacement laws, Regional Planning Committees will consist of a minimum of six members selected by local government, local hapū and iwi, and possibly central government. At least two members must be representatives from iwi and hapū and at least one member may be appointed by each local authority in the region. Regions get to decide how many members the committees have in total beyond these minimums.
However, the local authorities and iwi/hapū group that will decide how many seats will be allocated on a Regional Planning Committee must reach agreement on its composition. And while the current RMA law stipulates that decision-makers must “take into account” the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Natural and Built Environment Bill goes further and requires decision-makers to “give effect” to them. Given the Waitangi Tribunal has made it clear that to satisfy the “partnership” principle a 50/50 split is required, two seats will be just the starting point.
The expanded role for Māori does not end there. Anyone exercising functions under the Natural and Built Environment Act “must recognise, and provide for, the responsibility and mana of each iwi and hapū to protect and sustain the health and well-being of te taiao [environment] in accordance with kawa, tikanga [protocol] and matauranga [knowledge] in their rohe [tribal area]”.
Consequently, an iwi or hapū can, at any time, produce a Te Oranga o te Taiao (environmental wellbeing) statement to the relevant Regional Planning Committee. What weight these statements will carry is not specified but for a government not averse to adding contentious clauses after public submissions have closed there will be plenty of time for their role in the legislation to be expanded. Anyone acquainted with the vast power of Te Mana o Te Wai statements in Three Waters will be alert to this possibility.
The bill also establishes a National Māori Entity to provide independent monitoring of decisions made under the Natural and Built Environment Act or the Spatial Planning Act. This body’s proposed role in relation to the courts, and other serious concerns, led the Chief Justice, Helen Winkelmann, to take the extremely unusual step of making a written submission to the select committee in February.
Noting that “monitored entities” are required to respond to the reports the National Māori Entity prepares, Winkelmann pointed out that the courts, “appear to fall within the scope of the… definition of monitored entities. We assume this is an error in drafting or an oversight. Providing for decisions of the Environment Court to be subject to review by the Entity would be inconsistent with New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements. Court decisions are appropriately challenged by way of appeal, not by way of review by a statutory entity. Such a review would be constitutionally unprecedented and problematic....
breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2023/06/graham-adams-co-governance-for-your-deck.html