Last week, the Minister for Resource Management Reform, Chris Bishop, announced that the government would be intervening, yet again, to prevent councils from progressing environmental protections under the Resource Management Act (RMA). Legislation will prohibit the notification of any new changes to regional policy statements and regional and district plans....
An Ultimately Positive Outcome The High Court ruled the Environment Court’s decision to allow the demolition of 22 Crescent Road, Epsom should not be taken as precedent. Justice Muir, whose retirement was announced with “thanks [for his] outstanding contribution to the judiciary and to the administration of justice” by the...
On 17 June, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga issued the following statement on the Gordon Wilson and McLean Flats: Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga is deeply disappointed by the impending decision to demolish Wellington’s Gordon Wilson and McLean Flats, two buildings of significant heritage value that have long been part...
Auckland Council received the Independent Hearings Panel recommendations on PC78 (Intensification) for the city centre on 8 May 2025. Council’s decision on the recommendations was made on 22 May. They accepted all the panel’s recommendations on submissions on PC78 as they relate to the city centre. All these provisions became operative...
Greenpeace and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition have reported that a New Zealand bottom trawling vessel, fishing in the Chatham Rise off the South Island’s east coast, has pulled up 6,000 kg of protected stony coral in a single trawl. Stony corals are a protected species under the New Zealand...
John Cheah, council project manager, has advised that the resource consent application is working its way through council processes. Following a break-in several months ago, the rear door and courtyard door have been boarded up. Now the only access to the library is via the front door. The grounds have...
The Government today released for consultation an unprecedented package of reforms to national direction under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). This review covers 12 existing instruments and proposes 4 new ones – making it the largest overhaul of national direction in the Act’s history. National direction – including national...
A petition has been launched to halt the Gene Technology Bill and achieve a Commission of Inquiry. Petition request That the House of Representatives halt the progress of the Gene Technology Bill and instead set up a Commission of Inquiry into the health and safety of people and the environment...
The Environmental Defence Society has concluded its Dollars and Sense Conference in Tāmaki Makaurau, drawing together over 350 delegates across government, business, iwi, academia, and civil society for three days of conversation on aligning economic systems with ecological realities. The question asked at the conference was: how can we achieve that...
It’s been 15 years since the super city was formed. What are we most proud of in Tāmaki Makaurau? Where are we going as a city? What needs improvement? Auckland’s past, present and future leaders came together to reflect on these questions. Contributors included Helen Clark, John Key, Wayne Brown...