Leeann Watson: Business Canterbury CEO on Christchurch City Council becoming the consenting authority for supermarkets, Environment Canterbury, KiwiSaver

Christchurch City Council's been selected to act as a one-stop consenting authority for large-scale supermarket developments.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says it's the latest step in the Government plan to make New Zealand attractive for new operators.

She says developers previously had to navigate up to 66 different councils, processes and responses.

Willis says the aim is to boost competition in a sector dominated by Foodstuffs and Woolworths by letting new entrants deal with just one authority.

Business Canterbury CEO Leeann Watson told John MacDonald that the intention of having a one-stop shop regardless of the number of sites you’re operating on is sound.

She says that they’ve heard from businesses who operate across multiple sites that there’s a real inconsistency across the local authorities, which can be incredibly painful to deal with.

But, Watson says, whether or not this plan creates the right incentives is still yet to be seen.

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