Supporting effective, equitable and fair compensation settings
An incentive payment of 10 percent of land value for landowners who agree to voluntarily sell their property before a notice of intention is issued, with a minimum payment of $5,000 and a maximum of $100,000.
Note: the proposed incentive payments sit alongside those given effect to by the Critical Infrastructure amendments, which provide for a different incentive to reflect the critical nature of those projects.- Recognising the disruption caused by acquisition by increasing the home-loss base payment from $35,000 to $50,000, and the land-loss minimum and maximum payment amounts from $250 to $350 and $25,000 to $35,000, respectively.
- Extending home-loss eligibility where there are multiple owners and more than one dwelling on a parcel of land.
- Requiring that Māori freehold land is valued as if it is general land when it is acquired for a public work.
- Requiring that parties try to resolve compensation disputes through mediation or alternative dispute resolution before going to the Land Valuation Tribunal.
Streamlining land acquisition powers and processes
- Enabling Transpower to initiate and undertake some Public Works Act processes through the Public Works Act.
- Allowing government agencies to coordinate land acquisition for connected public works projects, rather than each agency acquiring land separately.
- Allowing Public Works Act users to acquire land when they need to move third-party assets, such as powerlines or pipes, that are located on land required for new public works, if that third party would be able to use the Public Works Act or Resource Management Act to acquire the land needed.
- Introducing a requirement for the relevant Māori portfolio Minister to give consent for the compulsory acquisition of protected Māori land by the Crown.
- Ensuring landowners receive comprehensive information on the acquisition, their rights, entitlements, and an invitation to sell before a notice of intention is issued.
- Ensuring the Minister or local authority negotiates with landowners in good faith for at least three months, or six months for Māori freehold land, before a notice of intention is issued.
Providing targeted improvements to objections proceedings
- Clarifying what the Environment Court can consider when reviewing objections to acquisitions, to enable disputes to be resolved efficiently and address overlap with the Resource Management Act.
- Requiring objectors to state the grounds for their objection, and clarifying that compensation disputes are not within scope.
Emergency provisions
- Introducing an emergency recovery land acquisition process that can be activated by Order in Council following an emergency, with appropriate safeguards, rather than requiring bespoke legislation.
The standard process for emergency recovery:
- reduces negotiation requirements and simplifies acquisition processes
- provides a limited submission process to the decision-maker, rather than objections to the Environment Court
- excludes protected Māori land
- provides entitlements to payments equivalent to the incentive payment, whether or not land is acquired by agreement.