The Public Works Act 1981 and Its Review
The Public Works Act 1981 and Its Review
Tuesday 8 July, 2025
Overview of the Act
The Public Works Act 1981 (the Act) provides powers to certain government agencies or local authorities to acquire private land for public works such as roads, cycleways, railways, schools, universities, and water infrastructure.
The Act provides protection for landowners, including requiring full compensation for acquisition of land or any interest in land, with the objective that the owner is no worse off or better off after the acquisition.
The acquisition process involves either:
- Agreement with the landowner under section 17 of the Act; or
- Compulsory acquisition, which follows a prescribed process, including issuing necessary notices and adhering to strict time-frames in the Act.
Proposed Review of the Act
In July 2024, Minister for Land Information the Hon Chris Penk announced a review of the Act, aiming to make it easier to progress critical infrastructure in New Zealand.
Purpose of the Review
- Improve access to the Act’s powers
- Streamline administrative processes
- Remove duplications and clarify complex aspects of the Act
- Better incentives to landowners to reach agreements with acquiring authorities
- Align compensation processes with international best practices
- Improve certain technical aspects
Scope of the Review
The review focuses on land acquisition and compensation aspects, aiming to modernise and streamline the acquisition process. It will also ensure due process to protect property owners' rights and consistency with legal obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi.
Exclusions to the Review
Specific exclusions to the review include the Act’s disposal functions and the offer back obligation where, a government agency no longer needs the land for public works, then it has to offer it back to the previous owner first. These will remain unamended.
Review Focus
- Efficiency: Improve processes and remove unnecessary duplication
- Effectiveness: Ensure the Act is workable, fit for purpose, and facilitates public works
- Clarity: Provide transparency and certainty for users and those affected by the Act
The Review
Below is a summary of some proposed changes, which were announced by the government in stages:
- Delegations: Delegate land acquisition responsibilities/powers to more government agencies, such as the New Zealand Transport Agency.
- Reduce Involvement of the Environment Court: Refine the grounds the Environment Court can consider when there is an objection to the taking of land by a landowner. For example:
- for a project where a designation under the Resource Management Act 1991 is in place, the requirement that the Environment Court assess whether adequate consideration has been given to alternative sites, routes or methods of achieving objectives would be removed. This would avoid duplication and is also in line with the fast-track approvals process as set out below.
- compensation matters must be excluded from consideration.
- Dispute Resolution: Require an attempt to resolve a compensation dispute first, such as mediation or other alternative dispute resolution process, before involving the Land Valuation Tribunal to avoid Court costs and maintain landowner relationship.
- Streamline Compulsory Land Acquisition Process: The initial statutory notice be replaced with a more structured engagement process. Before issuing a Notice of Intention the local authority or Minister must:
- provide landowners with comprehensive information on acquisition, rights, entitlements, and an invitation to sell.
- Endeavour to negotiate in good faith with landowners for at least three months (or six months for Māori freehold land).
- Incentive payments: To encourage early agreement, landowners who voluntarily sell their property before a Notice of Intention is issued will receive an incentive payment of 10% of the land value, up to a maximum of $100,000.
- Increase home-loss and land-loss payments: To recognise the disruption and inconvenience caused by acquisition, additional payments would be made alongside the land value and any incentive payments:
- The home-loss base payment increases from $35,000 to $50,000.
- The land-loss payment increases from $250-$25,000 to $350-$35,000.
- Home-loss payments would clearly extend to multiple homes on a property, such as farms held in trust with multiple owners or occupiers living on the land.
- New Emergency Provisions: To allow land acquisition following a declared state of emergency to support infrastructure restoration and community recovery, activated by Order in Council.
Sitting alongside the Review of the Act, the following is also in motion:
- Acceleration of Certain Projects: The Fast-track Approvals Act 2024 was passed under urgency last year which has a provision to speed up decisions for significant projects listed in Schedule 2 to that Act. The intention is also to streamline how the Environment Court handles objections to compulsory acquisitions related to such fast-track projects. The fast-track projects will otherwise follow the Act’s existing process, and landowners can still object by filing a judicial review against the acquiring authority.
- Acceleration of Certain Roads: The government also plans to accelerate acquisition process as it relates to the Roads of National Significance listed in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2024.
- The Public Works (Critical Infrastructure) Amendment Bill: This was recently introduced to parliament to streamline the land acquisition process under the Act for the critical infrastructure projects listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act 2024, and Roads of National Significance that are identified in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2024 that are not already listed in Schedule 2 of that Act. Proposed changes include:
- premium payments to landowners to incentivise prompt agreement; and
- streamline the process for objection to land acquisition.
Public Input
The public can submit on proposed amendments to the Act through the Select Committee process once the Public Works Act Amendment Bill is drafted and introduced to Parliament, which is expected any day now.
