Call to dump changes to RMA

The Green Party says the Government should dump altogether its planned changes to the Resource Management Act.

The Government has been negotiating with United Future and the Maori Party to support the changes, which include less bureaucracy for home owners wanting to alter or extend their houses.

But Prime Minister John Key said on Monday it has been unable to get their support and it is very unlikely it will now introduce the changes before the election on 20 September.

Mr Key said instead, National would campaign on the RMA reforms.

The Green Party's environment spokesperson, Eugenie Sage, told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme on Monday the proposed changes are not popular and should be dumped for good.

"We campaigned strongly last year, ran a series of regional meetings and had thousands of people signing on to a letter to the Environment Minister (Amy Adams) asking her to dump the changes to the act - because it would have pancaked those matters in of national importance, those key environmental principles in part two of the act."

Ms Sage said the changes would have enabled development at the expense of the environment.