Introduction to crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)

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5.0 The legal and local authority context

In New Zealand the Resource Management Act (RMA) provides the legal framework for managing and protecting the environment. Under the 1991 RMA local authorities and persons acting under the Act have a statutory obligation "to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources". The RMA defines sustainable management to mean:

"managing the use of natural and physical resources in a way or at a rate which enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural well-being and for their health and safety".

Any development not permitted in the district plan requires an application for resource consent. In making an application for resource consent under the RMA an assessment is required of any actual or potential effects that the activity may have on the environment, and the ways in which any adverse effects may be mitigated. This assessment should include a number of matters where safety is a factor.

In the current Auckland City strategic plan, First City of the Pacific, the community vision for Auckland relates to safe communities. Specific references include "people of all ages are safe on the streets and can use the city without fear" and "urban design promotes safety". In the same document Auckland City's vision stresses strong and healthy communities, and states in priority five "streets and public spaces are designed and maintained to inhibit criminal behaviour and create a feeling of safety around the city and around the clock".

To this end, Auckland City is now involved in capital works programmes that include street scaping, urban design, lighting, parks planning, and safety audits.