Given its significant contribution to society in terms of our economy and our general quality of life, recreation should be given greater prominence in the planning process as set by the Resource Management Act.

Recreation is currently only considered as a subset of the term ‘amenity values’ in Part 2, Section 7 of the current Act. and only referred to in the Interpretation as an ‘attribute’. There is a lack of clarity around the value and place of recreation in the current Act. This has been known to cause delays in the planning process, and meant input from the recreation sector into significant consent applications is often a late or completely absent.

NZRA has requested that recreation is included as a matter of particular regard in section seven of the Resource Management Act and be given more prominence in light of its significance to NZ and its economy.

While NZRA views the maintenance and enhancement of recreation values as a matter of national importance and recognise recreation areas would have greater significance and higher protection if mentioned in section 6 – we consider giving the term recreation prominence in section 7 is an appropriate compromise, considering our members’ experiences of consent application processes.

Specifically, NZRA requested section 7(c) be amended to read:

“The maintenance and enhancement of recreation and other amenity values”.

NZRAs recommendations better reflect:

• the need for a more comprehensible and streamlined consents process
• recreation’s central importance to New Zealanders’ quality of life,
• how recreation is heavily dependent on access to quality natural and built environments, and
• the need to protect and enhance the value of recreation spaces for visitors to New Zealand.

The New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA) welcomed the opportunity during the term of the last government, to call for clearer recognition of recreational use in the Resource Management Act, through the, now-shelved, Resource Legislation Amendment Bill. NZRA made both written and oral submissions to the Select Committee.

To give us your views on this issue, contact our Advocacy Manager.