11 Dec 2008

Government rejects land acquisition proposals

4:11 pm on 11 December 2008

Infrastructure Minister Bill English said the Government will not be acting on proposals in a briefing paper to make it easier for land to be compulsorily acquired.

The suggestions for changes to the Resource Management Act include widening the scope of those able to compulsorily acquire land to include electricity generators and possibly other infrastructure developers.

In the briefing paper, Government departments including Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development raise a number of options for streamlining the planning process.

They include using call in powers more frequently to get approval for large projects.

Mr English told Morning Report the Government has a series of amendments to the Resource Management Act that are designed to speed up the consent process and reduce the cost.

"There's always been land acquisition law, people losing their land under the Public Works Act, argument over how much compensation there should be ... we're not opening that can of worms in the shorter term."

The departments also say that instead of using Superannuation Fund money the Government should simply borrow for investment in new infrastructure such as roads and suspend its contributions to the Fund.

Infrastructure developers support proposals

Council for Infrastructure Development chief executive Stephen Selwood said making it easier for land to be compulsorily acquired for major developments would offer more certainty about future land use.

He said land is often not set aside in a timely way and if it was designated in advance it would provide greater certainty to landowners or people considering buying.

However, Brian Deans who is set to lose his 165-year-old family farm after it was compulsorily acquired for the Central Plains Water Irrigation scheme in Canterbury is appalled that what he sees as an undemocratic practice could be made easier.

His land has been acquired without the company having gained resource consents for the project.

Mr Deans said his business is paralysed in the meantime because of restrictions on the freehold title, and the land cannot be subdivided without consent from the water company.

Federated Farmers said it would support plans to make it easier for those involved in infrastructure development to acquire private land, as long as landowners receive appropriate compensation.

Labour urges caution

The Labour Party is advising the Government to pause before it considers suggestions from officials on how to boost infrastructure development.

Finance spokesperson David Cunliffe said there is room to streamline some Resource Management Act processes, but says there must be a balance between community and environmental needs.

Mr Cunliffe warns the paper suggests giving much more power to Wellington bureaucracies.

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said a huge amount of new generation has been granted resource consents but is not being built, and the Government wants to deal with the reasons for that first.

He says requiring status can currently be granted under the Resource Management Act, and he is not convinced a wholesale granting of requiring status is needed to get the generation the country needs.

ACT leader Rodney Hide said he is wary of widening the powers of developers.

However, he agrees with the paper's call to streamline planning processes by more use of the Government's power to call in large projects and restrict appeals to the Environment Court.

Maori concerns

The planned overhaul of the Resource Management Act could create tension between the Maori Party and National.

Environment Minister Nick Smith intends to introduce a bill in February to streamline consent processes, and another one later to deal with water allocation and other more complex issues.

The head of Maori and Ethnic studies at Canterbury University, Rawiri Taonui, told Waatea News Maori feel the Resource Management Act has, for the first time, given them effective tools to defend waahi tapu (sacred sites) and other areas of concern.

Mr Taonui says if the Maori Party were to back the reforms, it could alienate its supporters.

"Most Maori support the partnership between the Maori Party and National, but there's that tension in that relationship between the right wing economics and making Maori progress, so it's going to be interesting to see what they do with that."