Skip to main content.

Letter from Hon David Benson-Pope to Jeanette Fitzsimons

Hon David Benson-Pope

Minister of Fisheries
Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office
Associate Minister of Education
Associate Minister for the Environment
Associate Minister of Justice
Member of Parliament for Dunedin South

8 February 2005

 

Jeanette Fitzsimons
Chairperson
Local Government and Environment Committee
PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

 

Dear Jeanette

Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill

I am responsible as the Associate Minister for the Environment for the Bill that has been referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee. The agency with responsibility for servicing the Committee is the Ministry for the Environment.

I am writing in relation to clauses S and 7 of the Bill. I have noted the issues raised by you in your recent written parliamentary questions on this mailer. I wish to reassure you that the intent of these two clauses is to require performance by councils, and not to direct specific outcomes.

Specifically, as I outlined in my answers, the intent of clause 6 of the Bill is to enable a Minister to require performance by councils of their functions under the Resource Management Act. It is not intended that this clause will enable the Minister to require a council not to take action relating to its functions under the Act. It is not intended that this clause will enable the Minister to require a council to achieve a certain outcome in circumstances where the Act gives the council discretion with respect to the actual performance of any of its functions.

Similarly the intent of clause 7 of the Bill is to enable a Minister to require councils to address specific resource management issues (relating to a function set out in sections 30 and 31 of the RMA) in their plans with respect to part of , or all of, a council's territory or region. It is not intended that this clause wifi enable the Minister to direct a council as to the content of a council's plan where the council has addressed, or is addressing, a particular resource management issue in a plan.

I am happy for officials to assist the committee to ensure that the Bill reflects the policy intent as outlined above, should the committee agree that this is necessary.

I look forward to meeting with you to talk about wider policy issues around this issue.

Yours sincerely

 

David Benson-Pope
ASSOCIATE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand. Telephone: (04) 470 6567
Email: www.labour.org.nz Facsimile: (04) 499 7393

Last updated: 6 May 2008