Local authorities need a system of incentives or penalties to prevent frustrating delays in the resource consent process, says a resource management expert.
Owen McShane, director of the Centre for Resource Management Studies, said he had heard complaints from around the country about the slow turnaround of resource
consent applications.
Environment Minister David Benson-Pope on Friday called for an investigation of up to 20 local authorities which were failing to adequately process consents within the statutory 20 days.
The first four councils to be scrutinised by the Ministry for the Environment are the Manukau City Council, Franklin District Council, Kaipara District Council and the Waimakariri District Council.
Mr McShane, who lives in the Kaipara area, said he and his clients had had to wait months to get subdivision consents from the district council.
He believed many councils were becoming overly cautious because of legal challenges to their decisions and, in some cases, got carried away with writing reports for what were often quite small decisions.
"The incredible time it's taking ... is putting people off doing anything."
Mr McShane said the Resource Management Act gave guidelines that had "had no teeth ... " He said councils should set their own guidelines and where they could not meet deadlines they should forgo consent fees, as had the Taranaki District Council with considerable success.
The 2005-06 Resource Management Act (RMA) survey of local authorities found that while many councils appeared to operate consent processes efficiently and effectively, several did not.
Basil Morrison, president of Local Government New Zealand, said high growth and development in some districts together with staff shortages and heavy workloads were contributing factors to the delays in consent processing.
Increasing administrative and legislative complexities also played a part, he said.
"It must be made clear that because this particular survey has found some councils aren't performing as well as others, it does not mean they're not using best practice or central government guidance materials."
Mr Morrison said councils were committed to meeting the tight deadlines set by the RMA. "It's important to remember that this is not just about the number of consents processed but the quality of decisions made."
