NZILA Natural and Built Environment Bill submission

The NZILA Working Group for RMA Reforms believes the proposed Natural and Built Environment Bill could be positive for the profession and has made a submission to parliament about the reforms, meeting the deadline of Sunday February 5. 

You can find that submission here.

Working Group spokesman Shannon Bray says the focus of the NZILA submission is strategic rather than detailed. “We have taken a supportive approach, reflecting that the proposed bill seeks an outcomes based approach to environmental (and landscape) management,” he says.

The deadline for submissions is this Sunday (February 5)

“In particular, we support the ongoing need for protection of outstanding natural landscapes and outstanding natural features, noting the added focus in the Bill for restoration where these are degraded. This approach is in line with our original submission to the Select Committee seeking that protection of outstanding natural landscapes (ONLs) and outstanding natural features (ONFs) needs to be a fundamental System Outcome of environmental legislation.”

But, says Shannon, the group realises the desire to remove the term “amenity” from the legislation is likely to have significant consequences on other landscapes.

“We have therefore considered the fundamental principles of landscape, narrowing our focus to what we hope is a more politically palatable concept: the relationship between communities and place.”

Shannon points out it is not yet known if the NZILA submission will be heard so because of that uncertainty a small working group has been developing a relationship with senior policy advisors within the Ministry for the Environment which has been very positive so far.

Lake Tekapo image by Tobias Keller on Unsplash.

“To date, our advice in regard to the development of the proposed National Planning Framework (NPF) has been very well received,” he says. “we are optimistic that the ministry is setting up the framework in a way that allows for ongoing improvement, including the widening of direction to cover management of all landscapes. We are also working on formalising the relationship between NZILA and the ministry to better facilitate our continued involvement in updating and adding to the NPF.” 

He says while the changes have the potential to be positive for the landscape architecture profession they could also bring challenges so he is urging landscape architects to take time to review the planned changes and consider how they will affect the profession and its clients. Individual submissions can also be made here.

The working group is made up of; 

Clive Anstey

Shannon Bray

Stephen Brown

Brad Coombs

Grant Edge

Bridget Gilbert

Rhys Girvan

Peter Kensington

Di Lucas ONZM

Rebecca Ryder

Dennis Scott

Kerstie van Zandvoort

Julia Wick