A lobby group says its legal advice shows proposed changes to the Resource Management Act will water down environmental protection.
The Government is proposing amendments to the 1991 legislation, designed to speed up the resource consent process by combining sections of the act into one set of principles.
Environmental Defence Society policy director Raewyn Peart says that while a number of the proposals are good, environmental considerations should be protected.
"Some of these reforms are very sound and we support any moves to make the process more efficient, but that does not mean we have to lower the environmental protections that we currently have in place."
Ms Peart says the society wants to see the act's key environmental protections remain in the amended legislation.
