![]() The council has subsidised the replacement of hundreds of fires – often very efficient ones – and replaced them with inferior models for little or no change. For the other 353 days of the year the air is great. For 12 days of the year our town does not meet the standard for PM10 particles. Under direction from Wellington, our council enforces clean air standards. The rule is inflexible and imposes costs far in excess of any benefits We tested the required noise levels in our brand new home the only place that complied was the wardrobe. The rule sets a standard that can never be achievedĬonverting a shop into a two-bedroom residential unit required a reduction in noise levels from 70db to 35db. The pharmacy has triggered the need to upgrade the fire rating of the entire building at a cost of $50,000. The pharmacy is to be 3.5% of the building. When the house caught fire, the fire chief would not drive his truck past the house to the tank in case it caught fire too.Ī small change is treated the same as a big changeĪs part of the refurbishment of an earthquake-damaged building, a pharmacy is being added to the front of a 1950s building. The Health and Safety mining regulations define a tunnel as ‘what it is not’ rather than ‘what it is’.Ĭompliance with the rule defeats its very purposeĪn owner of a rural property had to spend $30,000 putting in a driveway and watertank to meet the fire requirements. The owners of a bus depot structure that has no walls are forced to install four exit signs, just in case people can't find their way out if there is a fire. Submitters find many kinds of rule annoying. The very real financial loss they can cause adds to the frustration. ![]() Such rules make people angry because they are simultaneously insulted by them and bound by them. ![]() Other times, a rule is simply bad practice that has become a rule only because someone says it is. We find that some loopy rules are based on people’s mistaken beliefs or on incorrect advice from an agency. These rules are usually the unintended results of a well-meaning act, regulation, or a practice instituted by a local council. Our top ten fixes are listed on page 7. We call on both central and local government to stop making more loopy rules.įigure 1: Percentage of Resource Management Act (RMA) and Building Act submissions Most importantly, we identify opportunities to fix many loopy rules and bust the myths. What’s clear is they thrive when rule makers fail to take responsibility for them. We highlight these myths in this report along with the loopy rules that need to be changed or removed. We discovered that loopy rules are difficult to get rid of because they’re part of a wider system, because a focus on the customer is absent, or because of the interests of experts or the fears of their administrators. Myths fill the gap when clear information is hard to find. We heard many examples where people are not clear about what they need to do and why. They are misinterpretations and misunderstandings that have been repeated so often that they have taken on the status of facts. ![]() It was a surprise to us to find out that a number of the loopy rules are in fact just myths. They are exasperated by inconsistency, time-consuming processes and unreasonable costs. New Zealanders have told us they are confused and frustrated by frequent changes in the rules. But we are struck by the number of instances where the good intentions of the rule-makers are somehow lost in the translation to the real world.Įxamples abound of inappropriate interpretation, over-zealous enforcement and lack of focus on the customer. We did hear of rules that protect people, the environment, infrastructure and our heritage but which still enable individuals, businesses and our economy to prosper and grow. ![]() We thank all those who have candidly shared their frustrations and given us their views on how rules could be changed to make more sense. We have also met with councils, sector interest groups and government agencies. In the last few months we have travelled around New Zealand listening to people in their communities. These are the things that really annoy people, whether they run a business or own their own home. We were tasked with identifying rules and regulations which are not fit-for-purpose and which impose unnecessary bureaucratic burdens on property owners and businesses.Įveryone we heard from has had tales to tell of loopy rules - requirements that are out of date, inconsistent, petty, inefficient, pointless or onerous. New Zealanders are fed up wasting time and money trying to work with loopy rules. The loopy rules report: New Zealanders tell their stories - executive summary ![]()
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