RMA update Director Dialogue with Anderson Lloyd

Presentation

Speaker(s): Michael Garbett
Date: 5:15pm — 6:30pm, 19 March 2026
Venue: Anderson Lloyd
Location: Otago House, Level 12, 477 Moray Place, Central Dunedin 9016
Price members: $25.00 incl GST
Price non-members: $40.00 incl GST

Overview

New Zealand's resource management system is currently being reset. The Resource Management Act 1991 is to be replaced by a new Planning Act and Natural Environment Act. These reforms mark a shift to a more streamlined, integrated approach to planning, consenting, and environmental protection. The changes reshape how land use decisions are to be made, how development progresses, and how environmental responsibilities are enforced. These shifts create new operating environments for the planning industry and have implications for councils, developers, infrastructure providers and their governance bodies.

This session will cover:

The new bills and the purpose behind the reform
How plan-making will operate under the new system
Key changes to consenting processes
Regulatory relief and transitional arrangements
Shifts in environmental liability including Director duties.

Michael Garbett

Michael specialises in local government and resource management law, having practiced in these areas with Anderson Lloyd since 1998. His work is a combination of district plan development, Environment Court cases, strategic advice on governance for councils, expertise on compliance with legislation, and policy advice.

In the resource management arena, he regularly works on a wide range of legal issues such as appeals on project development, resource consents, enforcement proceedings, plan development, and infrastructure designations.

Michael is currently the treasurer, and former chairperson, of the Otago/Southland branch of the Resource Management Law Association.

Additional information

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