How regulatory relief could play out in Auckland – and it’s a bureaucratic and litigious hot mess

Opinion: Dr Greg Severinsen, reform director with the Environmental Defence Society.

EDS has released a sobering assessment of how the government’s proposed regulatory relief framework could play out in Auckland.

Under the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill, which are now going through final stages of the parliamentary process, councils would have to compensate landowners for rules relating to indigenous biodiversity, landscapes and cultural protections if that rule had a significant impact on the reasonable use of the land.