Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

To sit on Resource Management Act resource consent and plan hearings, elected local authority councillors must hold a qualification as an RMA hearings commissioner.

Getting this qualification is designed to be a very challenging process and it takes many hours of preparation. As it should, because the cost of poor resource management decisions can be high. I'm part-way through getting my recertification as a hearings chair. And if I'm successful, this will equip me to take part in formal RMA hearings and decision-making processes for another five years.

Such a concentrated focus has led inevitably to me making some observations on the RMA. The first is the philosophy of sustainable management of our natural resources is incredibly important and the overall intent of the RMA is great.

The rub is it is a complicated piece of legislation and it chews up a huge amount of time and resources – both community and council.

The RMA is a boon to lawyers and planners and can be quite formidable for ordinary people just wanting to do things on their land.

Case law is constantly evolving through various Environment Court judgements, and the Government is seeking further change to streamline its effectiveness – so we can expect even more change.

It would be nice to think this will make things simpler, but history has shown legislation tends to get longer as changes occur, And because the RMA directs how councils develop plans and make consent decisions, these are getting longer and more complex as well.

The aim is good decisions on natural resource use. We try very hard to achieve this, but I wish there were not so many procedural hoops to jump through.

If you would like more information on the regional council or any other issue, contact me on neesj@xtra.co.nz or ring me on 07 5795150.