Building Tomorrow: The New National Policy Statement for Infrastructure
Building Tomorrow: The New National Policy Statement for Infrastructure
Wednesday 9 July, 2025
As part of the ongoing efforts to reform the resource management system, the Government has unveiled a series of proposed changes to national direction under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). This article marks the beginning of a Legal Brief series that will delve into these proposed changes, starting with the newly proposed National Policy Statement for Infrastructure (NPS-I).
Government states that the NPS-I is designed to address current inefficiencies in the consenting (and reconsenting) of infrastructure under the RMA and ensure that community infrastructure needs are met effectively. By exploring the key features and implications of the NPS-I, this article provides valuable insights into how these changes propose to shape the future of infrastructure management and development in New Zealand.
Purpose
The Government considers that the existing consenting system and national directions under the RMA have inhibited necessary infrastructure development required for the future needs of New Zealanders. The proposed NPS-I aims to ensure that community infrastructure needs can be met and that existing infrastructure can be maintained in an efficient manner.
Key Features
One key change in the proposed NPS-I is the expansion of the RMA’s definition of ‘infrastructure’. The proposed NPS-I is intended to apply not only to the more common public works and network utilities currently defined in the RMA, but also to apply to schools, hospitals, defence and correctional facilities, fire and emergency services facilities, waste disposal facilities and stormwater networks. The expansion of the infrastructure definition is intended to ensure that the new NPS-I can enable and protect the full range of infrastructure needed by communities.
The proposed NPS-I will provide:
- A central objective setting out a range of infrastructure outcomes expected from the resource management system. Examples include infrastructure which supports the development and change of urban and rural environments to meet New Zealand’s diverse and changing needs and the protection of infrastructure from reverse sensitivity (new activities or residents complaining about existing infrastructure).
- General policies to better enable and protect infrastructure, while managing its effects on environments which are not identified as having significant values under section 6 of the RMA or covered by other national direction, and recognising and providing for Māori rights and interests.
- Policies on managing the interface between infrastructure and other activities such as housing development.
- Policies that require decision makers to consider the time and cost that potential mitigation measures and consent conditions may impose to ensure that these are cost-effective and proportionate to the adverse effect(s) of the infrastructure.
Impact on local authorities, applicants and other parties
The Government intends for the new NPS-I to be in force by the end of the year (ahead of its plans to replace the RMA in 2026 as part of Stage 3 of the reform programme). While it is not anticipated that local authorities will be directed to immediately update their policy statements and plans to give effect to the NPS-I, any local authority making a decision on a resource consent application (or a territorial authority making a recommendation on a notice of requirement to designate land) will be required to have regard to the NPS-I’s objectives and policies once it is in force. Once in force, applicants for resource consents, and requiring authorities issuing and deciding notices of requirement, will be required to consider and assess their proposal against any relevant provisions of the NPS-I.
The proposed NPS-I is expected to create consistency in how decision makers consider and assess infrastructure and lead to more certainty for resource consent applicants and requiring authorities with respect to infrastructure proposals.
While a key focus of the Government’s resource management reform has been protecting property rights, the proposed NPS-I may lead to the recalibration of expectations regarding amenity and property rights due to greater emphasis on infrastructure protection, including protecting infrastructure from impacts created by other activities. This will be implemented through a number of proposed policies, for example, policies which manage expectations around adverse effects that cannot be entirely avoided and recognise that infrastructure may have a functional need to be located in certain locations and, once established, is a physical resource which must be sustainably managed under the RMA.
Stay tuned for the next article in this series on the proposed changes to existing national direction with respect to renewable electricity generation, electricity transmission and telecommunication facilities.
Consultation on the changes proposed within Package 1 close on 27 July 2025. If you have any questions on Government’s proposal to introduce a new NPS-I or would like assistance with making a submission on the proposal, please contact one of our team below.
