Labour to support Government's resource management reforms

The reforms would now focus more narrowly on changes to planning processes. Photo / iStock

The Labour Party says it will support the Government's resource management reforms at the first hurdle.

The long-awaited Resource Legislation Amendment Bill will get its first reading in Parliament this week.

Labour's Environment spokesman David Parker said this afternoon that the party would vote for it to progress to a select committee.

"We've always said we would support a sensible bill," he said.

Labour decided to reverse its opposition to the reforms after the Government abandoned changes to the environmental protections in the Resource Management Act (RMA).

The reforms would now focus more narrowly on changes to planning processes.

Mr Parker said the reforms were also a concession by the Government that the RMA was not solely to blame for the housing crisis.

"It is an abject surrender by National because - after years of blaming the RMA for out-of-control housing prices - they know gutting the Act is not the solution," Mr Parker said in a statement.

The new legislation was introduced last week, more than two years after it was originally proposed.

The most controversial parts of the bill, which would have required councils to give equal weight to economic development and environmental protection in any planning decisions, were removed in order to get the support of the Maori Party.