21 April 2017

The Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 is now in force, as the Bill obtained Royal Assent on Monday, 18 April 2017, and is now on the Legislation NZ website: Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017

This means that consenting changes (subpart 2 of Part 1) and amendments to the Conservation Act 1987 (Part 4) come into force on 18 October 2017.

We encourage you to visit the MFE website and read the information to understand how the changes affect you.

You will find:

  • An overview of the changes
  • A checklist for councils which details at what times different aspects of the changes come into force (either immediately or at later dates)
  • A set of 16 fact sheets which provide more detailed information about the changes (to be published on the website in the next couple of days)


MfE are also finalising arrangements to set up LG Connect, which is run by SOLGM, for council staff to ask us any questions about the changes and share information between councils. We encourage you to subscribe to this, and please inform your staff that this service will soon be available

More technical guidance will be available over time from MfE, particularly relating to Mana Whakahono a Rohe, the streamlined planning process, consent exemptions and boundary activities, and changes to consent notification.