If officials got their way, private companies could forcibly buy land like state agencies currently can for road building projects. Photo/ Glenn Jeffrey.
There are no plans to change the Resource Management Act (RMA) to broaden the scope of private companies that can forcibly purchase land, Finance Minister Bill English says.
Under the RMA some utility companies and developers can be delegated the power to compulsorily acquire land.
But a cross-government
briefing to incoming ministers on infrastructure issues by officials, released yesterday, suggested widening the scope of those powers further.
The paper suggested giving the power to power generation companies and other developers.
But Mr English today said on Radio New Zealand the new Government had no plans to do that.
A much higher priority was changing the RMA to speed up the decision making process around planning and consents.
He was also undeterred by advice it would be better to suspend payments into the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF) than get it to invest in infrastructure projects.
In the briefing officials were sceptical about the Government's plans to get the super fund to invest 40 per cent of its assets into New Zealand assets with the hope that some would be spent on infrastructure such as roads.
It said such an approach could reduce the return from the fund.
It would also make the Government the issuer of the debt and the holder of it.
"If your main objective is to provide capital for infrastructure spending, then there are a number of options available - including issuing new debt and suspending contributions to the NZSF."
- NZPA
