The Select Committee has recently reported back to Parliament on the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill (Bill). It has recommended changes to parts of the planning framework in the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) that were originally designed to enable housing growth in Auckland and Christchurch.

Auckland: Intensification is to be revisited with withdrawal of PC78 and new plan changes notified

The Select Committee has recommended changes to the RMA that will enable Auckland Council to withdraw the remaining parts of Auckland’s intensification plan change, Plan Change 78 (PC78), and replace it with a new plan change to the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) that enables housing capacity equal to or greater than that enabled by PC 78. PC78 was originally notified to “give effect to” the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) and implement the controversial Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS). The Select Committee has recommended that Auckland Council is no longer required to implement the MDRS and instead proposed that greater height and density (of at least six stories) be provided around the City Rail Link stations in Mount Eden, Kingsland, and Morningside (as well as other stations). 

These recommendations follow an agreement reached between Auckland Council and the Government to free up more land for housing so we anticipate that the Council will be well advanced in its thinking about what this new plan change will look like. However, the Council has been given limited time to confirm the details as the new plan change must be notified by 10 October 2025. 

This means that landowners and developers should prepare for the notification of this new intensification plan change:

• Landowners and developers around these stations should be ready to review the new plan change and consider how it may affect development potential;
• Those pursuing private plan changes that have already been accepted (or adopted) will need to consider the implications of the proposed changes to the implementation of the MDRS; and
• Other landowners and developers across Auckland should monitor the Council’s announcements closely, as the new plan change may introduce broader changes to zoning and development controls beyond the immediate vicinity of the City Rail Link. This is because the Council will have discretion to include the MDRS into any relevant residential zone. 

The new intensification plan change will not address the City Centre as the PC78 decision has been made and the provisions became operative on 6 June 2025. We also anticipate that it will not propose changes to the Metropolitan Centre zones as the PC78 hearings for these areas are continuing. 

It is also anticipated that a new natural hazard plan change will be notified at the same time which will update and introduce natural hazard overlays in the AUP. The Bill has provided a new provision to enable Auckland Council to ‘down-zone’ areas, and the intensification plan change is likely to do this in areas where the hazard risk justifies a change in zone.

Christchurch: Intensification confirmed by the Minister in and around centres and balance of PC14 may be withdrawn

The Select Committee has also recommended changes to the RMA specific to Christchurch and its intensification plan change, Plan Change 14 (PC14). Last week Hon Chris Bishop released decisions on the recommendations from the Council on parts of PC14 related to intensification around centres. The Minister rejected the majority of the changes that the Council wanted to make to the recommendations by the Independent Hearings Panel (IHP). Generally, the Council decided to reduce intensification compared to the IHP, and the Minister has reinstated the IHPs recommendations. The Ministers decisions for areas in and around centres are final, but the Council must still consider the remaining recommendations from the IHP on the balance of PC14 by 12 December 2025; these will address intensification zoning across Christchurch.

In advance of these decisions, the Bill will allow Christchurch City Council to withdraw the remaining parts of PC14 that propose to implement the MDRS, following approval from the Minister, provided that the Council can demonstrate that its planning framework enables at least 30 years of housing growth. The Minister will assess this target based on advice from officials. 

If the balance of PC14 is withdrawn, Christchurch City Council will not be required to undertake a subsequent plan change. However, it is anticipated that it will prioritise intensification around key transport corridors and centres – the Council will be required to ensure that every residential zone in an urban environment gives effect to Policy 3 of the NPS-UD and it will have discretion to incorporate the MDRS (in any future plan change). 

Those pursuing private plan changes should be aware that the Council will still be required to ensure that the zoning provisions in any accepted or adopted private plan change affecting a relevant residential zone — if accepted or adopted before the withdrawal — will need to incorporate the MDRS. 

Other urban centres / Tier 1 councils: MDRS to stay for now

Initially the Bill proposed to make it optional for other Tier 1 councils to adopt the MDRS within their residential zones. The Bill also included provisions allowing councils that had already implemented the MDRS to ‘opt-out’ and remove these from their planning frameworks. 

However, the Government has advised that it will be deferring this change to a later phase of the resource management reform. To ensure consistency with this advice, the Committee recommended removing the ‘opt-out’ provisions. This means that Tier 1 councils that have adopted MDRS must retain these standards for now. In practice, all councils except Auckland Council and Christchurch City Council have fully incorporated MDRS into their plans. 

Other recommendations 

Alongside the above changes, the Select Committee has made numerous recommended changes to the remainder of the Bill. As we discussed in our earlier article (here), the Bill is focused on managing hazards, supporting the primary sector, improvements to system efficiency, amendments to the consenting process for renewable energy and specified infrastructure projects, and increasing the number of compliance and enforcement mechanisms.

We will report on the key recommendations which are included in the legislation once it has passed. It is particularly notable that in response to substantial opposition, the Select Committee has deleted the clauses that would have provided that a consent authority must not hold a hearing if it determined it had sufficient information to decide an application.

The Government expects that the Bill will undergo its second reading in the coming weeks. The indication from the Government is that the Bill is “due to become law in mid-2025”. For more information about the Bill, or its implications for Auckland or Christchurch, please reach out to one of our experts.