Submissions for the Government’s policy statement closed earlier in the week
Trade bodies said the success of the Government’s proposed National Policy Statement (NPS) on Urban Development must be underpinned by clear, strategic, and collaborative planning processes.
Submissions for the NPS, which proposes new rules for how councils should plan for urban growth and development, closed earlier in the week. The Property Council of New Zealand, Infrastructure New Zealand, and the Registered Master Builders Association have expressed support for the purpose of the statement, which is to enable growth and development capacity that meets the demands of diverse communities. However, they said that the statement must better identify processes for collaboration and planning that includes all key stakeholders.
“Mandating strategic planning between local authorities, central government, and industry is critical to the success of the government’s proposed National Policy Statement on Urban Development,” said Leonie Freeman, chief executive of the Property Council. “The time for strategic planning is now. We need to start talking to one another and commit to coordinated planning between central government and local authorities at an urban level. This would ensure planning and funding for future development and infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and transport is coordinated across local authorities.”
“Improved central guidance through an NPS will help, but the reason our growth cities are struggling is not because of poor central planning guidance,” said Paul Blair, chief executive officer of Infrastructure New Zealand. “Inadequate funding for infrastructure, weak governance and statutes which don’t align are the real problems. We need a much more collaborative process to align the public and private sectors, iwi, and communities at every stage of urban development’s planning, funding and delivery.”
“Signalling from central government and local authorities is also important,” says David Kelly, CEO of Registered Master Builders. “A forward work programme will provide certainty in the sector when making business decisions around employment, training and business investment.”
