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b"The\\xa0Resource Management Act\\xa0(RMA) passed in 1991 in\\xa0New Zealand\\xa0at times, controversial Act of\\xa0Parliament. The RMA promotes the\\xa0sustainable management\\xa0of\\xa0natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zealand's\\xa0Ministry for the\\xa0Environment describes the RMA as New Zealand's principal legislation for environmental\\xa0management. As the RMA and the decisions made under it by district and regional councils and in courts\\xa0affect both individuals and businesses in large numbers, the RMA has variously been\\xa0attacked for being ineffective in managing adverse environmental effects, or overly time-consuming and expensive and concerned with bureaucratic restrictions on legitimate\\xa0economic activities. Dr Mels Barton and Sean Freeman speak about the impact of the recent changes to the\\xa0RMA Should central government be able to control decisions made by local government? This\\xa0seems to be the approach of our current government thus undermining local democracy,\\xa0generally in favour of business interests. One could ask if the RMA is being turned into an\\xa0economic development act! Changes to the RMA certainly won't build more homes.\\xa0 The changes to the RMA from 2009 to 2013 have restricted the ability of local government to\\xa0protect trees on urban allotments to those trees that have been listed on a scheduled list.\\xa0In Auckland whilst there is some protection for vegetation that is located within sensitive\\xa0areas such as riparian margins, coastal cliffs and Significant Ecological Areas (SEA\\u2019s) such\\xa0sensitive areas, are not commonly found within our city's boundary.\\xa0The current Scheduled List of Notable trees amounts to approximately 6000 trees which is\\xa0less than 15% of our remarkable urban forest. For the remaining trees on private property\\xa0there is effectively no protection.\\xa0 Trees have a unique place in our environment. Without them, human life as we know it\\xa0would not exist. Trees conserve water, make our air breathable, absorb air pollution, support\\xa0our slopes and form the hub of enormous underground micro-environments that strengthen\\xa0soil and foster insect life. In a city trees take up a lot of storm water that otherwise may cause\\xa0flooding. At a time when we all know the scale of the predicted intensification of building across our\\xa0city, we have lost the ability to effectively protect our urban forest from property developers.\\xa0We have lost the ability to protect those living assets which make our city a liveable place."