Earlier this year, we talked about the big picture – replacing the RMA with a new two-Act planning system, backed by more national direction and a staged transition over several years. Since then, not much has changed at the headline level, but there has been steady movement behind the scenes as the Bills work their way through Parliament and central government keeps tuning the current RMA settings.

The Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill are still the ones to watch. Both remain in select committee, and the Government is still signaling passage around mid-2026 and a phased move to a fully operational new planning system by about 2029. In the meantime, changes to national direction are arriving in tranches so the practical rules that affect your projects and land use are shifting even before the replacement system goes live.

Most recently, the Government has signed off changes to two National Environmental Standards, taking effect on 4 June 2026:

· The updated NES for Marine Aquaculture (NES-MA) is designed to make it easier to re-consent existing marine farms, tweak consent conditions, and run trials and research, while keeping environmental safeguards in place.

· The amended NES for Commercial Forestry (NES-CF) clarifies when councils can be more stringent than the national standard, replaces some of the prescriptive slash rules with a more risk-based approach, and removes duplicated requirements, backed up by technical guidance to help with day-to-day use.

These changes sit on top of the 10 national direction instruments that were updated in January 2026, and the further tweaks to the NES for electricity transmission and the Stock Exclusion Regulations in May 2026.

For now, your existing consents remain important – and in many cases have been extended to give you breathing space through the transition. You can still lodge new consents under the current system, and each round of national direction change gives clearer signals about what the future framework is likely to prioritise. For some clients, that opens opportunity. For others, it raises questions about timing, risk, investment and whether it is better to move now or wait for more certainty.

This is where the detail matters. The legislation itself is still being worked through, but the practical settings are already shifting via updated national instruments and transition measures. The “right” next step will look different for a farm, a forestry block, a quarry, a subdivision or an infrastructure project – it depends on what you do, what approvals you already hold, and how exposed you are to upcoming changes.

At Landpro, we are tracking the Bills, each new NPS/NES change and the transition pathway carefully – including the regional spatial planning work that is coming over the next 12–24 months. If you are wondering what this all means for a specific property, project, consent or long-term strategy, we are always happy to talk it through and sense-check your options.