OPINION: Ensuring regional councils’ range of tasks continues to be delivered
This opinion-editorial was written by Doug Leeder, Chairman, and published on Stuff news outlets in July 2025.
OPINION: While the theme for this week’s Local Government New Zealand conference in Christchurch is Brilliant basics and beyond, all the chat will be about the sector’s future structure.
The groundwork for this was laid a few weeks ago when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Local Government Minister Simon Watts – who both addressed the conference – signalled they may want to scrap regional councils as the Government reforms the Resource Management Act (RMA).
This week the Government has introduced legislation, the Local Government (Systems Improvements) Amendment Bill, to make councils focus on core infrastructure and services like roads, water, and rubbish. The need-to-haves, not nice-to-haves.
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop told the conference he is stopping councils’ mandatory plan requirements so they don’t waste time ahead of a new planning system due in 2027.
I welcome the renewed focus and the desire to do better, especially with people struggling with the cost of living and many councils hiking rates by double digits. Like many businesses, as a farmer I have been grappling with high compliance and regulatory requirements, with rates bills to match.
The Government’s intention to introduce legislation by the end of this year to undertake major RMA reform is welcomed. We are all frustrated by the cost and complexity the current rules around resource management have placed on communities, businesses and councils.
The status quo hasn’t been working.
Since I first entered local government politics in 2001 on the Ōpōtiki District Council, and then moving to chair the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in 2013, the requirements on local authorities have changed considerably.
There are processes that have to be complied with in the RMA that are very prescribed and onerous. It has become evident that staff are choosing to go to the nth degree in terms of compliance because they’re scared, if they don’t, of legal challenge. If decisions are open to appeal, the process goes to the Environment Court. Court determinations have driven this risk-averse approach.
We hope the proposed reforms do simplify the system and enable developments to occur in a cost-effective way that reduces duplication and confusion. The promise of fewer consents and a more permissive framework is welcome, especially if we are to meet the Government’s expectation of increasing primary industry exports.
The bigger issue at stake is ensuring that the huge range of other functions that regional councils are tasked with delivering continue. At their core, regional councils are responsible for being stewards of our land, water and air – our environment. Our functions include:
- Natural resource management
- Flood protection
- Land use
- Water and air quality
- Biosecurity and biodiversity
- Public transport
- Emergency management
- Harbour and maritime management
- Regional parks
- Strategic and regional planning.
Flood protection schemes are hugely important to the many local communities they are protecting. With seemingly more extreme and intense weather events occurring, such as in Tasman last week, there is a lot of work going on around New Zealand to bolster these protections.
Likewise, land use is critical to ensuring the right activities happen in the right place and don’t create erosion or unintended consequences.
What I don’t accept is that the proposed RMA legislative changes will remove the need for these functions. While the changes may make some activities permitted, or more easily permitted, there will still be a need to monitor these activities to ensure they comply.
New Zealanders will want to know someone is making sure our unique and valuable environmental resources are looked after. We have significant resource management capability in the regions, so let’s partner with people who know how to get resource management done and give them the tools to create an enabling environment.
Farmers, growers and businesses across New Zealand are focused on ensuring they do right by the environment and the community, from how they manage their business and its potential impacts on the environment to how they support staff, produce and manufacture products, or deliver services.
There are great initiatives happening. We see the outcomes of these when we walk through our regional parks and enjoy the growing biodiversity, through flora and fauna, and in birdlife.
While I’m not holding a candle for the structure of regional councils to be retained, I am keen for a discussion on how councils can deliver better performance across a range of areas for their communities and ratepayers.