Forum on liberalisation of building controls

Press, 20 January 1982, Page 4

Forum on liberalisation of building controls

PA Wellington The Government will run a two-day forum in Wellington next month aimed at a liberalisation of building controls.

The Under-Secretary of Internal Affairs (Mr Thompson) said that a “major overhaul" of building controls was long overdue.

"Excessively bureaucratic attitudes, confusing control, and pettiness in many regulations or in their application can cause impacts and delays which send the cost of buildings sky-rocketing." he said. The forum would look at the over-all objects of building controls: whose interest they should serve; how wide

they should be in their application: and whether they could be "freed up." It would also examine by-laws and codes of ordinance.

About 80 people are expected to attend the forum including some from Australia.

“A complete overhaul of the legislation and regulations which govern the powers of subordinate authorities to impose building controls is long overdue." Mr Thompson said.

The forum, like a similar one held earlier on land subdivision and rating, should reconcile the wide range of conflicting interests and views and "identify clearlv the direction which

legislative and regulatory changes should take." "Its whole purpose is to introduce a much greater degree of realism into the situation and to remove from the citizen some of the unnecessary and onerous restrictions under which he works."

Mr Thompson said the Government would follow up any reports or recommendations made by the forum, but redrafting codes of practice would he a big task which could take up to a further two vears.

The forum has been organised by the Internal Affairs Department with the Ministry of Works and the Housing Corporation.