RMLA President’s Report : August 2016
Nominations to the National Committee are due by 19 August. I do encourage you to put your hat in the ring if you have a bit of passion, interest and enthusiasm to help make RMLA better. New ideas and new faces are very welcome. I can promise you a bit of fun, balanced with a bit of work, but overall it’s a very rewarding and collegial experience.
Early bird registrations to the OUTStanding conference close on 18 August so get in quick.
Formal notice has been given of the RMLA Annual General Meeting on Saturday 24 September – which as you will recall is usually the most popular event of the Conference. Make sure you secure a seat.
The deadline for the various RMLA awards nominations expired on 1 August, and a good of selection of projects, publications and people have been put forward by their peers for our consideration. Thank you to those of you who have gone to the effort of trying to acknowledge the hard work that goes on out there.
On the topic of gratitude, thank you to the Auckland committee, Hon Peter Salmon QC and of course Boffa Miskell’s Rachel de Lambert for the hard work and careful thought that went into making this year’s Salmon lecture interesting and very enjoyable.
The regions are busy with various local events of interest to practitioners, ranging from the academic Legal Research Foundation presentation of “Resource Management: Recent Issues” to the hands on visit of the new recycling visit in Taranaki. Check out our events page to ensure you know whats on. It is also time to sign up for the next national roadshow that is being rolled out – Heritage – Policy and Law”, thanks to the collaboration with Heritage New Zealand.
The report back date for the Select Committee on the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill is looming (6 September) – we could have a range of reform proposals closer to being given effect by the time we meet in September at the Conference. If you feel like airing your views and concerns as we build up to the September report back date, check out the RMLA’s obiter page where you can debate the pros and cons with your peers. Those of you working in areas with Housing Accords will be sprinting towards the deadline of the HASHA, in terms of lodging consents for SHAs as well (I know we are in Queenstown!). If you have a view on whether or not HASHA should be extended, we would welcome articles for Obiter or the RMLA Journal or Newsletter to get your views our there.