The Resource Management Act (RMA) has taken a number of forms under different names over the years since 1840 but they still all dealt with issues related to planning and resource use. As years went by society grew more and more sophisticated and was ready for more controls to be made for development. Statutes were successively built on one another attempting to optimise the system of regional and local planning. Even though some of the earlier statutes had different emphasis on certain issues of planning, you can see that many of the concepts are still the same. Such factors that influenced and are responsible for the now established RMA are the increase in environmental concern; a statute was needed to allow central government to by pass the plethora of consents required for large developments and to make sure that issues in the local regions did not hinder other projects in the national interest . The purpose and the principals of the RMA is what will be focussed on this report.

New Zealand is a relatively low populated country with that being one of the main reasons to why New Zealand has been given its “clean green image” because

§ The principle of partnership and a duty to act in good faith (partnership).

Unlike a lot of other statutes the RMA has a section especially designated to clarify the purpose of the Act. This can be seen in section 5 of the RMA. In part (1) of section 5 it gives a definition for the purpose of the Act as “the promotion of the sustainable management of natural and physical resources”. “Sustainable management” is explained more in detail in part (2) of section 5, which emphasizes that the phrase “sustainable management” in the context of the RMA is managing the use, development, and protection of the natural and physical resources . It involves creating a balance of the resources we use with the need to protect the environment whilst providing for the needs to protect the environment. I feel that this is important to know and understand the phrase of “sustainable management”, as it could be taken under a number of ways in which people could misunderstand or manipulate and take advantage of. Like the RMA does not aim to hinder economic growth or standard of living and neither is the RMA there to balance benefits with adverse effects. But keeping in mind that the RMA does keep in mind the welfare for New Zealanders at an economic, social and cultural level .

‘Other matters’ in the RMA are specified in a list of items in which authorities must have particular regard to:

As mentioned before, New Zealand does have a ‘clean green image’ and I am sure most New Zealanders would all like to maintain that. I feel New Zealand is benefiting greatly from the RMA however though there will always be concepts, which will be under debate such as public access for example, but at the moment it’s the best system we’ve got. And I believe it is close to achieving a good solid balance between this increasing growth we have in New Zealand and our natural and physical resources. It will be interesting to see further developments and amendments in the future to the RMA.

Some topics in this essay:
Underlying Principle, Purpose Zealand, Planning Act, Act RMA, Treaty Waitangi, National Importance, natural physical, natural physical resources, physical resources, town country planning, Country Planning, Town Country, ‘matters national importance’, country planning act, resource consent, section 5, ‘matters national, national importance, national importance’, town country, country planning, planning act, Management Act, phrase “sustainable management”, Resource Management,