National monitoring system
Each year, we collect information from local authorities on their implementation of the RMA through the National monitoring system. This information is used to improve policy and practice at the national and local level.
Each year, we collect information from local authorities on their implementation of the RMA through the National monitoring system. This information is used to improve policy and practice at the national and local level.
The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) is the main piece of legislation guiding the management of New Zealand’s environment. Most of the everyday decision-making under the Act is delegated to local authorities (ie, territorial authorities and regional councils).
Each year, we collect information from local authorities on their implementation of the RMA through the National Monitoring System (NMS). This information is used to improve policy and practice at the national and local level.
The NMS is an annual process where we request information on various aspects of councils’ processes under the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). We request information from New Zealand’s 78 local government councils relating to:
We derive high-level statistics from the information including:
We publish the statistics in a summary report and online dashboard. The details we request from each council are the same year to year. However some items may change as our information requirements change or we refine our processes.
We have compiled a version of this information as national datasets for each financial year since 2014/15.
NMS data is used to:
The NMS built upon and replaced the biennial RMA Survey of Local Authorities, which ran from 1996/97 to 2012/13.
For more detailed information on the NMS, including the general structure and content, read the discussion document from when the NMS was proposed.
National Monitoring System for the Resource Management Act 1991 – A proposal for discussion
The new NMS dashboard offers key trends and insights on council performance under the RMA. Users can easily filter data by year and council, providing flexibility to explore specific performance metrics.
This report highlights patterns in councils' implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991 over the past seven years. It identifies patterns in RMA implementation, which may be used to inform the development of policy or practice. This report has been released in addition to the 2022/23 dataset, to provide an easily understood picture for the wider community.
Download the complete data for 2014/15 to 2021/22 on council implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991. The data is from the National Monitoring System.
Consolidated data on key NMS topics are now available on our Data Service. These CSV files contain information from 2014/15 to 2022/23 to enable technical users to conduct in-depth analysis over the years.
Data councils are required to provide on their implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991.
We ask local authorities to populate the NMS Excel template for 2023/24 (see below) and email it to us at nms@mfe.govt.nz by the submission due date of 31 August 2024.
The guidance document explains how to populate the Excel template.
If you have any questions email nms@mfe.govt.nz or phone 022 517 3280.
NMS data for 2023/24 should be submitted by 31 August 2024.
NMS data for 2024/25 should be submitted by 31 August 2025.
Access and explore data on resource consent applications processed by councils from 2014/15 to 2021/22.
Launch the Resource consents explorer
We have discontinued updates for this product. Please refer to the new dashboard for trends and insights. If you cannot find the specific information you need, please to contact us directly at nms@mfe.govt.nz