Project overview
EDS is conducting research to inform new and enduring resource management laws.
The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) has been at the heart of New Zealand’s system for land use planning and managing the environment for over three decades. But it has had many problems, not least that it has failed to protect the natural environment from significant degradation.
The current National-led government is replacing the RMA with two radically different statutes – the Planning Act and Natural Environment Act. These put private property rights at the heart of the new system.
As the government worked up this legislation in 2024 and 2025, EDS conducted a research project to inform and critique its policy development. Two working papers were produced, and the project culminated in the publication of the report Replacing the RMA: Risks and Solutions. The report covered seven key themes, including regulatory takings, environmental limits and spatial planning, and looked at approaches in other jurisdictions like Singapore, the United Kingdom and Ireland. It received the Resource Management Law Association’s prestigious best publication award in 2026.
Please contact Dr Greg Severinsen at greg@eds.org.nz for further information.
We thank Forest and Bird and the Borrin Foundation for supporting this mahi.
