Infrastructure, development and primary sector national direction

The primary sector underpins New Zealand’s economy and standard of living. When farmers do well, New Zealand does well – but for too long, New Zealand’s farmers and growers have struggled against overly restrictive, confusing and duplicative regulations.

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) has made it harder to farm. Our package of proposed reforms seeks to streamline and clarify many of the bugbears causing our primary industries sector sleepless nights and lost productivity.

This Government is committed to enabling primary sector growth as a key driver of both the New Zealand export sector and prosperity in the wider economy. Growing our economy and improving productivity relies on our primary sector thriving.

Next year we’ll replace the RMA with new legislation premised on property rights. Our new system will unlock development, streamline processes, and support growth, including in aquaculture, forestry, pastoral, horticulture, and mining. Our simpler resource management system will provide for environmental outcomes without telling landowners how to run their business or imposing unnecessary consenting and compliance costs.

But we aren’t willing to wait until then. New Zealanders need relief from an overly burdensome planning system now. This is why we are proposing targeted changes to a suite of National Direction this year to realise immediate economic gains.

The primary sector proposals in this discussion document are one of four packages of changes to National Direction being consulted on. It is the largest change to National Direction in New Zealand’s history.

The proposals are designed to drive productivity in the primary sector through amendments to National Direction instruments including for highly productive land, commercial forestry, the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, as well as marine aquaculture changes.

These National Direction changes have been designed to minimise the implementation burden for local government and have been developed with the new system in mind, with these changes expected to carry over and transition into it when the time comes.

I encourage you to provide your thoughts on the primary sector proposals by providing a submission.

Hon Chris Bishop
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform

What are we proposing?

The Government is proposing new and amended national direction¹ to improve operation of the resource management system under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). Updated national direction is needed to set national-level resource management policy and rules which inform regional and local plans, policy statements and resource consent decisions.

The national direction programme proposes:

• targeted amendments to 12 existing national direction instruments and introduction of four new national direction instruments, through a combined statutory consultation process
• consultation on options to amend two existing national direction instruments on freshwater
• consultation on national housing and urban policy (currently part of national direction under the RMA) to inform development of the new resource management system.

For efficiency and integration across related topics, the programme is grouped into four ‘packages’.

Package 1: Infrastructure and development and Package 2: Primary sector comprise new instruments and amendments to existing national direction instruments. These packages are open for public consultation and submissions as part of the statutory process to prepare and amend national direction under section 46A (1) and (2) of the RMA.

Package 3: Freshwater is open for feedback on options to amend existing national direction instruments for freshwater. Submissions are invited on freshwater proposals, which include some broad options. Further consultation will be undertaken through an exposure draft.

Package 4: Going for Housing Growth includes a discussion document for consultation and submissions on key aspects of the Going for Housing Growth Pillar 1 policy proposals, and an indicative assessment of implementation options for different components in the new resource management system. Further consultation will be held as the detailed design of the new system progresses.²

Table 1: National direction instruments proposed for development or amendment³

Package 1: Infrastructure and development

• New National Policy Statement for Infrastructure 
• Amendments to National Policy Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation 2011
• Amendments to National Policy Statement on Electricity Transmission 2008 (proposed to be renamed National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks)
• Amendments to Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Electricity Transmission Activities) Regulations 2009 (proposed to be renamed National Environmental Standards for Electricity Network Activities) 
• Amendments to Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities) Regulations 2016
• New National Environmental Standards for Granny Flats (Minor Residential Units) 
• New National Environmental Standards for Papakāinga 
• New National Policy Statement for Natural Hazards

Package 2: Primary sector 

• Amendments to Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Marine Aquaculture) Regulations 2020
• Amendments to Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry) Regulations 2017
• Amendments to New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010
• Amendments to National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land 2022
• Amendments to Resource Management (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020
• Amendments to mining and quarrying provisions in: 
  • National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity 2023
  • National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land 2022
  • National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020
  • Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) Regulations 2020

Package 3: Freshwater 

• Amendments to National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020
• Amendments to Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) Regulations 2020 

Package 4: Going for Housing Growth

This package focuses on:

• obtaining public feedback on key aspects of the Going for Housing Growth Pillar 1 policy proposals 
• providing an indicative assessment about implementing different components in the new resource management system.

^{1 National direction comprises national policy statements, national environmental standards, national planning standards and regulations made under section 360 of the RMA.}

^{2 See Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. Going for Housing Growth programme. Retrieved 28 April 2025.}

^{3 The packages do not propose amendments to other regulations made under section 360 of the RMA, or to the following national direction instruments:}

• ^{National Policy Statement for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat}
• ^{National Environmental Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Industrial Process Heat}
• ^{National Environmental Standards for Air Quality}
• ^{National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health}
• ^{National Environmental Standards for Sources of Human Drinking Water}
• ^{National Environmental Standards for Storing Tyres Outdoors.}

Why are we changing national direction?

The proposals in the national direction programme are intended to contribute to the overarching goals of the Government’s resource management reform programme, namely:

• unlocking development capacity for housing and business growth
• enabling delivery of high-quality infrastructure for the future, including doubling renewable energy
• enabling primary sector growth and development, including aquaculture, forestry, pastoral, horticulture and mining.

Primary sector package

Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy has been built on our natural environment. The primary sector is a key part of our economy, society and heritage. Its economic contribution is significant, with a strong export revenue forecast for the year to 30 June 2025.

The Government’s top priority is economic growth. Within this growth focus we need to ensure the right balance of objectives: social, economic, cultural and environmental.

New Zealand’s national direction settings have become relatively inflexible and are seen as restricting rather than enabling primary sector innovation.

The proposals in this primary sector package are intended to deliver on what the Government said it would do to back the primary sector in its pre-election manifesto and Coalition Agreement commitments. The proposals also aim to put in place enduring changes to national direction settings.

The proposals include new and amended rules to clarify which activities are proposed to be permitted as of right, and which would need a consent in district  or regional plans. The proposals also provide more targeted national policy direction to support resource consent and plan-making processes, with a focus on better enabling the primary sector.

The proposals complement other government initiatives such as the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 and other targeted amendments to the RMA.⁵

^{4 References to district plans in this document also include the district plan components of combined plans, including unitary plans, prepared under section 80 of the RMA.}

^{5 Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill.}

Role and content of this discussion document

Through this discussion document, the Government invites submissions on the proposals. Submissions will inform advice the Government considers before making final decisions or drafting any national direction instruments.

This discussion document explains the suite of national direction proposed in the primary sector package and includes material on the proposals to create or amend national policy statements and national environment standards under section 46A(1) and (2) of the RMA. Proposed new provisions for national direction are provided in section 5 of this document and form part of the proposals for the primary sector package.

Section 2 of this document outlines the scope and content of each new or amended national direction instrument in the primary sector package. This section includes an overview of the potential impacts of each proposal on various parties, describing how the proposal is intended to be implemented and how it incorporates Treaty of Waitangi and Treaty settlement considerations.

Section 3 outlines tools available to implement the national direction proposals in the primary sector package.

Section 4 explains how you can make a submission.

Section 5 contains proposed provisions for each new or amended instrument in the primary sector package. The attachments provide details about the scope and indicative content proposed for each instrument.

Further information on the proposed changes to national direction, including Interim Regulatory Impact Statements, can be found on the Changes to resource management web page on the Ministry for the Environment’s website.