This submission in response to the Natural and Built Environment Bill is made by The New Zealand Initiative, a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses.

The Initiative has been deeply concerned about resource management policy and practice since its establishment in 2012. The Initiative, like most others who follow the topic closely, has viewed the existing Resources Management Act as being fundamentally unfit for purpose. It prevents better environmental outcomes, blocks housing from being able to be built in places where people want to live, and stymies economic development – all at enormous process cost for everyone involved.