To obtain a resource consent you must apply in writing to your local council (called for this purpose the "consent authority"). There is a set form for the application and it must include all the necessary information. The process of applying for resource consents and the way in which your council makes its decision is governed by the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991.
For more information on resource consents, see the Ministry of Environment’s website at www.mfe.govt.nz.
In general, you will need a resource consent if your proposed activity is for a use of land that is inconsistent with your local district or regional plan. You can establish whether your proposed activity is or is not permitted by this local plan by first establishing what zone you are in according to the plan, and then determining what activities are permitted within this zone. You should contact your local council for information about this.
Your local plan may classify activities in the following way:
You will need to apply in writing to your local council. The application must be in the prescribed form, which is given in Form 9 in the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (FORMS, FEES, AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2003 (SR 2003/153). But each local council will have its own application form that conforms to the prescribed form in the Regulations.
Your application must include an assessment of environmental effects (an "AEE"). The amount of detail you provide in your AEE should correspond to the scale and significance of the effects. (The Ministry for the Environment has published "A Basic Guide to Preparing an AEE", which you can download from its website at www.mfe.govt.nz (under Publications).)
You should also talk to your local council about how much detail they will require your environmental assessment to have. The council may have forms that will guide you.
After it receives your application, the local council may send you a written notice asking you to provide more information about your application. You then have 15 working days to either -
If you don't do one of those three things within the 15 working days, and the council thinks it doesn't have enough information, the council can refuse your application for a resource consent.
It can also refuse your application if -
the council thinks it doesn't have enough information to make a decision.
Unless the application is for a controlled activity or the adverse effects on the environment will only be minor, the council must give public notice of your application and must also specifically notify certain interested parties. The council must do this within 10 working days of you lodging your application.
The interested parties whom the council must notify are as follows:
If the application is for a controlled activity or the adverse environmental effects will only be minor, the council need only notify those people whom it believes may be adversely affected by the activity. Further, it need not notify these people at all if all of them have given written approval for the activity.
The following people may make submissions to the council about the application:
Submissions must be made within 20 working days after the notice was given.
Each submission must be in the prescribed form, which is given in Form 13 in the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (FORMS, FEES, AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2003 (SR 2003/153). Some local councils will have their own standard form for submissions.
The submission must state whether the person who made it supports or opposes the application.
A person who makes a submission must serve a copy of it on you, the applicant, as soon as is reasonably practicable after serving it on the council.
The council must provide you with a list of all the submissions that it has received. It must do this as soon as reasonably practicable after the closing date for submissions.
There may be a pre-hearing meeting of all the interested parties to clarify or help resolve any issue. The meeting may be requested by the applicant, the council, or anyone who made a submission about your application.
Neither you nor anyone else can be required to attend a pre-hearing meeting unless you, the applicant, agree to this. But if you agree to attend, and then with no reasonable excuse you do not attend, the council can refuse to deal with your application for the resource consent.
After the pre-hearing meeting, the chairperson must prepare a report that states what was agreed and what issues weren't resolved. The report can also set out the nature of the evidence that will be presented at the hearing, the order in which this evidence will be presented, and a proposed timetable for the hearing. The report can't include anything that was said "without prejudice" at the meeting. The chairperson must send the report to the council and all the parties so that they have it at least five working days before the hearing.
The council must take this report into account when it makes its decision on your application.
The council can refer you and anyone who made a submission to mediation, but only if you all agree to this. The council can do this on its own initiative, or because you or a person who made a submission asked for mediation.
The council does not have to hold a hearing about your application unless it thinks one is necessary, or unless you or someone who made a submission asks to be heard.
If there is to be a hearing the council must fix a starting date that is not more than 25 working days after the closing date for submissions on the application. If the application was not notified then the date for the hearing must not be more than 25 working days from the date your application was received.
The council must give you, the applicant, at least 10 working days' notice of the date, time and place of the hearing. The same notice must be given to anyone who made a submission and who stated that they wished to be heard on the application.
The council must consider the following matters when deciding on your application and when considering any submissions:
The council cannot take trade competition into account.
More generally, the council will consider the purpose of the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991, which is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. The main concern is to avoid, remedy or mitigate any adverse effects of activities on the environment. The council will also consider:
The council's decision must be in writing. It must state the reasons for the decision, the main issues that were in dispute, a summary of the evidence the council heard, and the main findings of fact.
The decision must also state the provisions of the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991 (or other Act or regulations) that the council took into account, and any relevant policy statements and plans that it took into account.
If the consent is granted with conditions, the decision must also state the reasons for the conditions.
(You can apply to the council for it to change or cancel a condition. For the prescribed form for this, see Form 10 in the RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (FORMS, FEES, AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2003 (SR 2003/153).)
The council must send you a copy of its decision, and must also tell you the time within which any appeals against the decision must be lodged. The time limit for doing this is:
The applicant and anyone who made a submission may appeal the decision to the Environment Court: see How to appeal a resource consent decision).
If you’ve applied for a resource consent condition to be changed or cancelled, you can also go to the Environment Court to appeal the council’s decision in response to your application.