''These are significant changes and will mean significant workloads for councils.''
At the National Party Conference in Nelson on Saturday Environment Minister Amy Adams announced reforms to the Resource Management Act (RMA) she plans to introduce to Parliament before Christmas.
She said the reforms, indicated in a discussion document consulted on earlier this year, would provide greater certainty for communities to plan for and meet their area's needs in a way that reduced ''unacceptable'' costs and delays.
''It must be remembered that the RMA is not just about environmental protection, it is also our planning law.''
It was essential the resource management system was made clearer, more proactive and easier to use and the changes included national templates for planning, she said.
For homeowners wanting to do simple house alterations, the changes could mean getting consent in 10 days instead of 20.
The proposed Bill would affect both the Otago Regional Council and the region's city and district councils, as the RMA governed how they planned, as well as how they granted consents.
The regional council's regional plan and city's district plan, on which both local authorities were working now, could become one plan available on the internet under the changes.
Mr Woodhead said councils would only have three years after it became legislation to complete a joint plan so would have to ''move quickly''.
The regional council objected to the proposal of an independent panel hearing submissions on plans, believing local knowledge and accountability was important.
It also ''strongly disagreed'' with the provision of a consent exemption for minor technicalities, as it ''blurred'' the consent baseline, he said.
A positive was the significant enhancement of the wording on hazards and the strengthening of provisions around the Environment Court.
''It's fantastic. It significantly shortens the Environment Court processes.''
Dunedin City Council services and development manager Sue Bidrose said both councils, with the region's other district councils, had been talking about aligning parts of their plans to make them more consistent.
Proposals for councils to have 10 years of zoned land to meet development demand would have different impacts in the South than in Auckland, she said.
However, only when council staff had time to look at the changes this week would the full impact be known, she said.
The public could have further input into the Resource Management Reform Bill during the select committee process.
