Item

Obstacles to public participation under the Resource Management Act 1991

Ross, Catherine
Date
1996
Type
Dissertation
Fields of Research
ANZSRC::0502 Environmental Science and Management , ANZSRC::180111 Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Abstract
Picking up on comments from the media, academia, business, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) and the wider community, this report considers the practice of public participation under the Resource Management Act. In particular it examines the obstacles for using the, assumedly meaningful, opportunities for public participation under the RMA and considers ways of overcoming them. Although it is recognised there may be some overlap between this report and that of the PCE, this report aims to make a valuable contribute to research by focusing specifically on obstacles to public participation under the RMA. The methodology used for the report is set out in Appendix 1. The report is written with a particular audience in mind, this being resource managers who want to encourage effective public participation. The primary aim is to promote prioritised and strategic research into ways of removing some of the obstacles to effective public participation under the RMA. The first substantive chapter of the project looks at public participation. The literature on public participation is huge. The chapter reviews and synthesizes some of the major themes from this literature and links them to participatory practices under the RMA. It concludes by identifying the likely characteristics of effective public participation in New Zealand and by creating a framework through which to identify the potential obstacles to effective public participation under the RMA. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the RMA and the participatory provisions which sit within it. An understanding of the Act and its provision for public participation was necessary before the obstacles to effective participation under the RMA could be considered. The practical obstacles to effective public participation under the RMA are looked at in Chapter 4. They are considered under the headings of: legislation; institutional arrangements; resources; and lack of evaluation which reflects the framework created in Chapter 2. The project finishes with the research agenda, and recommendations and conclusions developed from the identification of obstacles to effective public participation. The overall conclusion of the research is that the RMA public participation provisions enable effective participatory processes to operate. However, in practice there are many obstacles to the achievement of effective public participation. The research agenda recommends a research strategy which, if followed should suggest practical ways of overcoming obstacles to effective public participation under the RMA.
Source DOI
Rights
https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/pages/rights
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