Meeting a Need

There is now widespread dissatisfaction with the Resource Management Act. This dissatisfaction is widely recognised and is being reported on by the news media. In particular, business interest groups complain about the long delays and high transaction costs associated with any attempt to establish major business enterprises, build infrastructure, and even to enable the changes in location and land use needed to allow the smallest enterprise to innovate and grow.

For many years the Resource Management Act has been sacrosanct. Anyone who dared to criticise the Act or its implementation was dismissed as being "anti" the environment itself. But times have changed. Most New Zealanders have now been directly subject to some abuse of power, or know of friends or relatives who have suffered at the hand of the planning bureaucracy. The time is ripe to promote the range of changes necessary to bring the central planners back under control.

In response, and with the encouragement of many friends and colleagues, I have established the Centre for Resource Management Studies. This Centre consists of a small executive office, under my own direction, which will works with specialists in their fields to promote the objectives of a Charitable Trust which are listed below.

The present Trustees are Don Brash, (Chairman) Noel Lane (Deputy Chairman), Sir Roger Douglas, Alan Gibbs, Dick Quax, and myself. I have already established that there are many engineers, architects, scientists and economists willing to join a panel of expert advisers to the Trust.

If the Trust is to be taken seriously by government agencies, the news media and the public at large, it needs to be able to demonstrate that it has the support of more than a dedicated few.

Hence I seek your support in this venture. One of the most concrete ways of demonstrating your support for the Centre's activity is to make a donation to the Trust. Members will have priority access to the services of the Trust and its expert panel.

I trust that you and your colleagues will support the Centre by making a donation and broadening the base of our support.

Yours sincerely,
Owen McShane
Director

The Centre for Resource Management Studies Trust

The Objectives of the Trust:

• The promotion of a heightened awareness and understanding of, and knowledge about, the environment and environmental issues within the community in New Zealand;
• Fostering the exchange of ideas, information and knowledge concerning the environment and environmental issues among scholars, researchers, members of the professions and interested members of the public;
• The promotion of research into matters concerning the environment in any way;
• The promotion of academic programmes in environmental studies;
• The promotion of training and development programmes for professional practitioners focused, among other relevant matters, on the efficient use of natural resources, the rights of property owners (and particularly the protection of those rights) and scientifically robust, research-based and rational decision-making processes;
• The promotion of scientifically robust, research-based and rational decision-making processes at all levels in matters concerning the environment;
• Such other charitable purposes as the Trustees may decide.

Means of Achieving Purposes: The Trustees may, in order to achieve the purposes of the Trust, in addition to all other powers vested in the Trustees undertake such activities and enterprises as may be necessary or desirable including:

• The funding of campaigns to promote environmental awareness and education;
• Providing a resource for individuals and groups attempting to improve the implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991;
• Providing a panel of experts to carry out research or prepare technical evidence for resource management hearing committees and environmental court cases;
• Establishing and managing a web page to promote the effective distribution of information, press releases, reports and model planning documents;
• Organising lectures, seminars and training sessions;
• Providing scholarships;
• Publishing in any media, articles, books, research papers and other materials;
• Such other activities and enterprises to further the charitable purposes of the Trust as the Trustees may decide.

The Trust is a Charitable Trust established for Educational Purposes.