Item Name

Description

Comment

Proposed Emergency Management Bill (2025)

This Bill will replace the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act.
The key changes will include:

• requiring the Director-General of Emergency Management and Emergency Management Committees to identify communities at higher risk in emergencies and work with their representatives when planning

• making mayors primarily responsible for declaring states of local emergency and transition periods within their own districts

• strengthening the role of communities and iwi Māori in emergency management, including requiring Emergency Management Committees to appoint one or more co-ordinating executive group members with knowledge of the interests and values of local Māori communities

• enabling stronger national direction and minimum standards by allowing the Minister to make emergency management rules on technical and operational matters.

• Submissions close February 3

• Waikato Group Emergency Management Office making submission

Resource Management - Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill

Natural Environment Bill

This Bill will replace the Resource Management Act, along with the Planning Bill.
The Bill establishes a framework for the use, protection, and enhancement of the natural environment.
The proposed changes will include:

• replacing resource consents with permits and simplifying activity classification into four categories: permitted, restricted discretionary, discretionary, and prohibited activities

• narrowing the scope of environmental effects that are subject to assessment and regulation, and broadening the scope of permitted activities that don't require a permit

• making regional councils the permit authority for their regions, and requiring them to regulate and manage effects, and undertake compliance monitoring and enforcement

• creating combined regional plans, which must include the natural environment plan (as well as the regional spatial plan and a land use plan for each district in the region)

• requiring regional councils to make, maintain, and monitor the implementation and effectiveness of their natural environment plans and to allocate natural resources through their plans

• introducing an environmental limits framework covering air, water, land, soils, and indigenous biodiversity, and setting out a regime to manage resource use within these limits.

Planning Bill

This Bill will replace the Resource Management Act, alongside the Natural Environment Bill.

The Bill will establish a new planning system for the use and development of land.

The proposed changes will include:

• creating combined regional plans, which must include the regional spatial plan and a land use plan for each district in a region (as well as the natural environment plan)

• requiring councils to consider the impact of specified planning controls on landowners when they are developing plans, and provide regulatory relief where those controls significantly limit the reasonable use of land

• simplifying activity categories to four types: permitted, restricted discretionary, discretionary, and prohibited, with clear and distinct information and assessment requirements

• creating two main pathways available for land to be designated: an amended version of the current RMA process, and a new spatial planning process

• granting territorial authorities the general responsibility to enable and regulate the use and development of land in their district, including subdivision and activities on the surface of water bodies

• requiring territorial authorities to monitor and enforce the implementation of the regulatory plan for their district.

• Submissions close February 13

• Elected Member workshop on draft submission, February 4

Proposals to control rate rises and introduce rate capping

The Government will implement a rates cap to limit council rate increases.

The proposed model will:

• limit annual increases to a target range of 2–4% per capita

• apply to all sources of rates, including general rates, targeted rates and uniform annual charges, but will exclude water charges and other non-rates revenue like fees and charges

• prevent councils from increasing rates beyond the upper end of the range unless they obtain approval from Central Government.

• The Government will introduce legislation in 2026 to implement these changes.

• A transition period will begin on January 1, 2027, and the full regulatory model will take effect by 2029.

• Submissions close February 4

• Elected Members consider draft submission at Strategic Planning & Policy meeting on February 4

Simplifying Local Government / Proposed changes to regional councils and local government structure

The Government is proposing to change the local government system, alongside its upcoming resource management reforms.

The proposed changes include:

• abolishing elected regional councils and replacing them with Combined Territories Boards made up of the mayors of city and district councils in each region

• giving these Combined Territories Boards responsibility for regional functions, including planning, infrastructure and environmental management

• requiring each Combined Territories Board to prepare a regional reorganisation plan within two years of their establishment, setting out how councils in the region will deliver local infrastructure, public services and regulatory functions

• allowing reorganisation options such as shared services, council-owned companies, reallocating functions, or merging territorial authorities into unitary councils.

• Submissions close February 20

• Elected Member workshop on draft submission, February 4
• Elected Members consider draft submission at Strategic Planning & Policy meeting, February 18

Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act – Development levies

The Government is proposing changes to replace development contributions with a new development levies system.

The key changes will include:

• separating levies for each infrastructure service (such as water supply, wastewater, and transport)

• defining levy areas that are likely to cover larger, pre-defined areas than most current development contributions catchments

• allowing councils to apply additional charges in high-cost areas

• introducing a prescribed methodology that councils and infrastructure providers must use to calculate total growth-related costs and standardised growth units.

• These changes will be made through the Local Government (Infrastructure Funding) Amendment Bill, which has been published in draft form for feedback.

• Submissions close February 20

• Elected Member workshop on draft submission, February 4
• Elected Member consider draft submission at Strategic Planning & Policy Meeting on February 18

Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill

This Bill will change the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act and the Local Government (Rating) Act.

The key changes will include:

• streamlining the levy approval process, by simplifying what must be included in levy proposals and recommendation reports
  expanding the scope of the Act, so it can also be used for transport projects delivered by NZTA or KiwiRail, and for water infrastructure delivered by new water organisations

• allowing territorial authorities or water organisations to be the responsible levy authority

• introducing an accelerated recovery mechanism so a special purpose vehicle (SPV) can recover funding if a development fails

• refining the definition of protected Māori land, making it easier to identify former Māori freehold land that is now General land

• making sure that levies will rank alongside rates in the application of proceeds following a rating sale.

The Government will formally introduce the Bill to Parliament in mid-2026.

• Submissions close February 20

• Staff recommended action – do not submit

Legislation Commences

Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025

This Act changes the Building Act, Local Government Act 2002, Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act, Electricity (Safety) Regulations, Gas (Safety and Measurement) Regulations, and related regulations.

The purpose of the Act is to reduce the time and cost of building a granny flat by permitting small stand-alone dwellings up to 70 square metres to be built without obtaining a building consent, given certain conditions are met. These conditions are:

• the dwelling must have a simple, single-storey design and follow the Building Code

• building work must be carried out by authorised professionals

• councils must be notified before and on completion of building work.

• The remaining provisions came into force on January 15

Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Amendment Regulations 2025

These regulations change the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Regulations by adding new regulations 10 and 11 and a new Schedule:

• New regulation 10 confirms that sanitary plumbing or drainlaying carried out or supervised for a non-consented small stand-alone dwelling is prescribed work, so a record of work must be provided.

• New regulation 11 and the new Schedule set the required form for that record of work.

• Legislation commenced on January 15

Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Detached Minor Residential Units) Regulations 2025

These regulations set out national environmental standards for minor residential units that are completely detached from their principal residential units (Detached Minor Residential Units or DMRUs).

They provide that:

• One DMRU per site is a permitted activity in Māori purpose, mixed-use, residential, and rural zones, if it meets certain standards, relevant district plan rules, and any applicable regional plan rules

• a district plan can be more lenient than these standards.

• These regulations don't limit or affect any other legislative requirement that can apply to a DMRU, for example, any requirement under the Building Act.

• Legislation commenced on January 15

Resource Management – National Policy Statements

The following National Policy Statements were released as part of the reform associated with the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill:

• National Policy Statement for Infrastructure 2025

• National Policy Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation Amendment 2025

• National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity Amendment 2025

• National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management Amendment 2025

• National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks Amendment 2025

• National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land Amendment 2025

• New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement Amendment 2025

• National Policy Statement for Natural Hazards 2025

• Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Freshwater) Amendment Regulations 2025

• Legislation commenced on January 15