HortNZ calls For Major Changes To Proposed Replacement Of The RMA

24 February 2026, NZ: Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ) is urging the Government to strengthen draft legislation to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), warning that without key changes the new system could make it harder – not easier – for growers to produce fruit and vegetables.

HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott said the sector supports the Government’s plan to replace the RMA through the proposed Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill.

“Replacing the RMA is long overdue, and we back the Government’s ambition to create a system that is simpler, faster and less expensive.

“But the current drafting does not yet match that promise. Along with the rest of the primary sector, we are working hard to ensure the new system genuinely delivers fewer consents, lower compliance costs and better conditions for food production and rural development.

“What’s at stake is the ability of New Zealand growers to continue producing nutritious fruit and vegetables for New Zealanders and our global markets, while also supporting tens of thousands of regional jobs and maintaining the country’s strong export earnings.

“Horticulture is a sector New Zealand depends on every day – for food on tables, for employment and for economic growth. The new system has to enable that, not make it harder.”

HortNZ has significant concerns about proposals in the Natural Environment Bill that could introduce what amounts to a tax or auction system for natural resources such as water.

“The Bill includes options for market-based allocation or levies. In practice, market-based allocation could mean auctions or tenders where water, or the ability to discharge nutrients, goes to the highest bidder.

“A levy would effectively be a tax on water or on farming activity. That is not the right approach for food production.”

HortNZ is also concerned about how the Bill would treat growers operating in overallocated catchments – areas where freshwater quality is worse than the target states.

“HortNZ supports strong environmental limits. However, the draft Bill would not allow permitted activities in any overallocated catchments, which is more restrictive than the RMA, requiring consenting for many horticultural activities that are currently permitted because they have a low environmental impact.

“We need a sensible pathway that allows food production to continue while still driving ongoing environmental improvement.”

Another major issue is the risk of increasing cost and compliance for activities that are currently permitted.

“The Bill could lead to many more requirements and high compliance costs for everyday farming activities.

“If a grower already has a freshwater farm plan, particularly through an audited and certified industry assurance programme like NZGAP, that should be recognised as meeting permitted activity requirements. We should not be layering new compliance obligations on top of existing good practice.”

HortNZ is also continuing to push for National Direction for Commercial Vegetable Production, supported by clear goals in the Natural Environment Bill.

“Some vegetable growers are still facing unworkable regional plans that could leave them unable to secure a consent in areas like Waikato or the Horizons region. Given that New Zealand can’t import the vegetables needed to feed our own people, it is essential for public health and domestic food security that vegetable growers can keep growing. National Direction would create a set of rules that apply consistently across the country, meaning that all vegetable growers would meet standards for environmental practice, and in return, they would have certainty that they can continue to grow nutritious food for Kiwis.

“A clear goal to enable food production, including the supply of fruit and vegetables in the Natural Environment Bill, would set the Government on a course to resolve this issue and prevent it from happening elsewhere.”

For the Planning Bill, HortNZ is seeking stronger protection against reverse sensitivity, which occurs when new housing or urban development moves into rural areas and then complaints are made about long-established farming activities.

“This is the situation where people move next to orchards or vegetable farms and then object to normal practices like frost protection, spraying, or harvest activity,” said Scott.

“The Expert Advisory Group on Resource Management Reform signalled reverse sensitivity would be a key component of reform, but it is not currently reflected in the Bill. That needs to change.

“The Planning Bill must also better enable what the Government describes as ‘well-functioning rural environments.

“That means rural areas must continue to enable primary production, and the effects of housing development at the rural-urban boundary need to be properly managed. It also means rural infrastructure such as water storage needs to be prioritised so growers can continue producing food for New Zealanders and for export markets.”

HortNZ is particularly concerned about how the two Bills expect spatial planning, environmental limits and resource allocation to interact.

“The legislation currently has spatial planning happening first, before limits are set or resources like water are allocated.

“In our view, it doesn’t make sense to zone land as highly productive or set it aside for food production without also ensuring growers can access the water and discharge pathways needed to actually grow on that land.

“We’ve asked for limits to be set before or alongside spatial planning, and for allocation decisions to properly enable the productive use of highly productive land.”

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