The 149 projects released today for inclusion in the Government’s one-stop-shop Fast Track Approvals Bill will help rebuild the economy and fix our housing crisis, improve energy security, and address our infrastructure deficit, Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop says.
“The 149 projects selected by the Government have significant regional or national benefits. They will make a big difference in the regions by delivering jobs and growth and develop a pipeline of major projects to help boost the economy,” Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says.
“The projects have been selected through a thorough and robust process which included an open application process run by Ministry for the Environment, analysis by officials, an independent assessment and recommendations process by an independent Advisory Group, and final decisions by Cabinet.
“The 149 projects chosen by Cabinet to be listed in the Bill will be listed in Schedule 2 of the Bill once the Bill is reported back from the Environment Committee in mid-October. Once the Bill is passed, they will be able to apply to the Environmental Protection Authority to have an expert panel assess the project and apply relevant conditions.
“As we’ve publicly said before, the Government is also recommending to the Environment Committee that expert panels have the ability to decline approval for projects. . .
The list includes 44 listed housing developments which will enable up to 55,000 new homes to be built; seven aquaculture and farming projects; 43 infrastructure projects that will result in at least 180km of new road, rail and public transport routes; 22 renewable electricity projects and 11 mining projects.
The announcement has generated the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth from the usual suspects who are prophesying environmental destruction.
Among the wailers and gnashers are those opposed to mineral extraction and among them are the hypocrites who are quite happy to buy and use products that rely on minerals mined in other countries with far lower environmental standards and labour protections than ours.
They either don’t understand, or don’t care, that fast tracking doesn’t mean that developments will proceed, nor that they can bypass all the usual standards. They just won’t face expensive delays waiting to gain, or fail to gain, consent.
One reason for the country’s poor economic performance is the cost, in both time and money, of getting stuff done.
Fast tracking aims to fix that and help the country afford the first world services and infrastructure we need.
At the right of the media release linked above are links to the list of projects.
Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.
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