New Zealand Chambers of Commerce Network
13 February 2026
1. Introduction
The New Zealand Chambers of Commerce Network welcomes the opportunity to submit on the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. Our network represents thousands of businesses across the country, from SMEs to major exporters, operating in every sector and region. The resource management system has long been identified by our members as a major impediment to business expansion, investment, and economic growth. Reform is overdue.
We support the Government’s objective to establish a simpler, more predictable planning framework that unlocks development while safeguarding the natural environment. A well-functioning planning system is foundational to productivity, regional growth, and long-term prosperity.
2. General Position
We support the direction of the Bills. The proposed system addresses persistent issues with the Resource Management Act (RMA), including excessive complexity, inconsistent local rules, lengthy consent processes, and a lack of national coherence. A planning system based on clear goals, strong national direction, standardised plans, and proportionate assessment is essential for reducing regulatory barriers and supporting growth.
This is particularly significant for New Zealand’s regions, where planning delays have constrained the availability of industrial land, slowed infrastructure delivery, and contributed to housing shortages that in turn limit workforce availability. Businesses across the country have stressed the need for a system that is easier to navigate and more consistent in its expectations.
A core principle that should underpin the new system is proportionality. Compliance requirements, assessment thresholds, and consent conditions should be scaled to the actual environmental impact of an activity and the practical ability of applicants to avoid, remedy, or mitigate effects. Where a proposal has already been assessed as meeting environmental limits, subsequent conditions should not re-litigate matters or impose requirements that are disproportionate to the remaining effects.
3. Economic Benefits
Analysis shows the new planning system is projected to boost GDP by an additional 0.56 per cent every year by 2050, worth up to $3.1 billion annually. This scale of benefit is substantial. Few policy reforms have the potential to lift long-term economic performance to this extent.
In addition, the analysis indicates $13.3 billion in savings over 30 years through reduced administrative and compliance costs. For businesses, this represents money that can be directed into productive investment rather than process. For SMEs in particular, regulatory cost savings translate directly into increased capacity for innovation and growth.
4. Reduction in Consenting Requirements
It’s estimated that up to 46 per cent of consents and permits required under the RMA may no longer be needed under the new system. This is significant. Under the current system, many low-impact activities require approval, consuming time and resources for both businesses and councils.
Across the Chamber network, members regularly highlight how protracted consent processes affect investment timing, delay expansions, and introduce uncertainty into otherwise straightforward decisions. SMEs often face disproportionate burdens, as they typically do not have in-house planning expertise and must navigate multiple layers of assessment for relatively minor works.
The proposed framework, with clearer limits, reduced scope for subjective effects, and a narrower range of matters able to be regulated is a meaningful step toward resolving these long-standing issues.
Chambers also emphasise the importance of proportionality in consent conditions. Once it has been determined that an activity meets the relevant environmental standards and limits, conditions should be tightly focused on managing residual effects. Overly complex or onerous conditions undermine the intent of the reforms and can impose costs that are out of step with both environmental outcomes and business capability, particularly for SMEs.
5. Fewer Plans and Standardised Rules
The reduction from more than 100 existing plans to 17 regional combined plans represents a real simplification of the system. Under the current framework, businesses operating across districts regularly encounter inconsistent zones, definitions, and processes, even for identical activities.
Standardised national zones and rule structures will help address this. For businesses with operations in multiple regions, consistency in rules significantly lowers compliance costs and reduces process uncertainty. For regional businesses, standardisation will help remove localised bottlenecks that have limited access to industrial land or slowed commercial development.
6. Spatial Planning and Infrastructure
We strongly support mandatory regional spatial plans with a coordinated outlook of 30 years. The absence of integrated spatial planning has contributed to infrastructure shortages, fragmented development, and misalignment between land supply, transport networks, and community needs. We support regions determining their communities of interest, including the definition of regional boundaries, rather than relying solely on historic catchment management approaches.
Under the Bills, spatial planning provides a clearer framework for identifying future urban growth areas, protecting infrastructure corridors, and ensuring that councils plan for long-term demand. This will support more timely delivery of infrastructure and give businesses confidence that required services will be in place to support expansion.
7. Environmental Protection and Limits
We support the shift to clear, science-based environmental limits. Establishing limits early in the system provides a more transparent and predictable framework than relying on case-by-case assessments. This is beneficial for both environmental outcomes and business certainty.
The Bills also clarify how environmental limits, Māori interests, and economic considerations interact, giving decision-makers clearer mandates. By defining the legal scope upfront, the reforms reduce ambiguity and help prevent protracted disputes, which have been a hallmark of the current system.
Importantly, the reforms demonstrate that environmental protection and economic development are not mutually exclusive. A stable, coherent regulatory framework supports both.
We also acknowledge the importance of providing clarity around how Māori interests are recognised within the new system. Clear expectations and nationally consistent processes help ensure certainty for all parties involved in planning and consenting, supporting durable and workable outcomes.
8. Renewable Energy and Primary Industries
The new system will make it easier to consent renewable energy projects, which is critical to New Zealand’s energy security and emissions goals. Businesses investing in low-emissions technology need faster, more certain processes to bring projects online.
Improved consenting pathways for renewable energy should also place downward pressure on energy prices over time. For SMEs, energy costs are a significant and growing barrier to day-to-day operations and future growth. This issue is particularly acute outside Auckland, where businesses often face higher prices and fewer alternatives.
A more consistent, nationally directed planning framework will help ensure renewable generation can be delivered where it is most needed, supporting both regional resilience and business competitiveness.
Primary industries will also benefit from clearer rules, a more proportionate approach to managing environmental effects, and relief mechanisms where planning controls significantly impact land use. For a sector that underpins New Zealand’s export economy, reducing unnecessary compliance and providing national consistency is essential.
We support councils working more closely with new Crown entities such as Earth Sciences New Zealand to understand the sustainable development of natural assets, such as our geothermal resources, where jurisdictions overlap.
9. Implementation Considerations
While the legislative direction is sound, implementation will determine whether the anticipated benefits are realised. We highlight the following considerations:
a. Strong national standards and timely delivery
National direction must be clear and unambiguous so that councils cannot reinterpret or broaden the scope of rules beyond what the Bills intend. Timely delivery is essential to ensure the system transitions smoothly.
Consistent interpretation, implementation, and enforcement across districts is critical. Businesses frequently experience uneven application of planning rules between neighbouring councils, creating uncertainty and inefficiency. Increased clarity in the Bills, supported by strong national direction, should be used to resolve these issues and prevent local divergence from undermining the intent of the reforms.
b. Effective monitoring and performance reporting
For businesses, consistency and predictability are critical. Transparent reporting on how councils are applying the new system, including timeliness, costs, and processing consistency, will help ensure the reforms achieve their intended outcomes. Monitoring also creates accountability where performance falls short.
c. Adequate resourcing and capability-building for councils
The transition to combined plans, digital planning tools, and new assessment frameworks potentially requires targeted investment in council capability. Variable expertise across councils has been a significant challenge under the RMA. This must be addressed early.
d. Preventing the re-emergence of subjective or low-value regulation
A recurring concern among Chambers is that councils may attempt to reintroduce subjective assessments, such as amenity or character considerations, that the Bills deliberately exclude. Clear guardrails and strong national direction will be critical to prevent old patterns from resurfacing.
10. Conclusion
The Chambers of Commerce Network strongly supports the intent and broad structure of the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. A simpler, faster, nationally consistent planning system is essential for improving productivity, attracting investment, and supporting regional growth.
If implemented as intended, these reforms have the potential to materially improve business confidence, reduce compliance burdens, and support growth across all parts of the economy.
We encourage the Select Committee to maintain the reforms’ focus on clarity, consistency, and proportionality, and to ensure that implementation is appropriately resourced and supported