The Government has backed down on giving three ministers sign-off powers under the Fast-track Approvals Bill and will instead leave it to a panel of experts.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop announced the change today. It will mean an independent panel of experts will get final approval instead of Government ministers.

The bill, which aims to give swift approval to major projects considered to be of national interest, has proved controversial because of the powers it gave to ministers and critics’ claims it did not give enough weight to environmental considerations.

It would have given three ministers – Bishop, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Resources Minister Shane Jones – the authority to approve or reject projects, even if that was against the advice of an independent panel assessing the projects.

Under the changes, projects will be referred to an expert panel by the Minister for Infrastructure, who will be required to consult the Minister for the Environment and other relevant ministers as part of the referral process.

Final decisions would sit with the expert panel – which Bishop said was the same as the previous Labour Government’s fast-track process.

Expert panels would be required to include those with expertise in environmental matters, but would include iwi authorities only when required by Treaty settlements. They would also include Māori development and te ao Māori expertise in place of mātauranga Māori.

Applicants will have to include information on previous decisions relating to a project, including by courts.

Bishop said the proposed changes had been agreed by Cabinet and communicated to the select committee considering the bill, which would decide whether to include them in the bill.

Bishop also provided a breakdown of the 384 projects that had applied to be listed in the bill.

That breakdown showed 40% were housing and urban development projects – while just 5% were mining.

Infrastructure projects made up 24%, renewable energy projects 18%, primary industries projects 8%, and quarrying projects 5%.

Bishop said the high level of interest in applying showed the streamlined process was needed.

“New Zealand has a housing crisis, a massive infrastructure deficit, and very ambitious climate change targets. Fast-track [processes] will be a huge step forward toward addressing this trifecta of challenges for Government and the private sector alike.”

The Independent Advisory Group had provided a report to ministers with recommendations on projects to include in the bill and Cabinet would consider those in the coming months. They will then be included in a paper to be put before Parliament once the Fast-track Approvals Bill returns to the House later this year.

Earlier this year, groups ranging from miners and developers to iwi and local government were approached to submit proposals for consideration for inclusion in the bill. Those applications were due by May.

The Independent Advisory Group was charged with deciding on the list of projects to be included in one of the schedules to the bill, after which ministers were to make the final call.

All three ministers have said in recent weeks the powers of ministers was one element of the changes they were looking at.

It was raised as a concern by many submitters, including the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General was also concerned about management and transparency regarding actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

Bishop has described the bill as a one-stop consenting regime, aimed at ensuring major projects that are important for New Zealand or one of its regions do not get bogged in consenting processes and hold-ups. It is also aimed at reducing the $1.3 billion cost of consenting paperwork under the current consenting law.

The bill attracted about 27,000 public submissions and the select committee is due to report back in September.

Bishop has previously said the Government was open to some changes in response to concerns that were reasonable.