New Zealand’s largest environment NGOs – Forest and Bird, the Environmental Defence Society and Greenpeace Aotearoa – want to see the Natural Environment Bill and the Planning Bill thrown out. They say the bills are designed to undermine environmental protection in our country and would cause deep and lasting damage to New Zealand.

They are premised on the idea that nature should be sacrificed to development at all costs. The amendments to the bills announced by the Government this week are yet another travesty: 

• Effectively removing environmental limits from the Natural Environment Bill;
• Blocking clean water rules that have already been through councils and courts in the Waikato and Manawatu (Plan Changes 1 and 2);
• Replacing mandated freshwater farm plans with self-regulation; and
• Blocking regional councils from protecting the inshore marine environment from destructive fishing activity.

These changes come on top of the existing “regulatory relief” clauses that require councils to compensate private property owners for protecting biodiversity on their land – such as in the Waitākere Ranges.

Erika Toleman, interim Chief Executive Forest and Bird, 021988315; Gary Taylor, Chief Executive Environmental Defence Society, 021 895 896; Russel Norman, Chief Executive Greenpeace New Zealand, 0274585181