Non-Notified Resource Consent Process

What happens to my non-notified application?

Once your application has been received:

• It will be allocated to a Resource Planner who will manage the assessment
• You will receive a letter formally accepting the application and giving contact details for the Resource Planner
• Your proposal will be given a comprehensive review and will be checked against the District Plan rules. This will identify any other infringements for which consent is required. This will also help to determine the accuracy of the information provided.  If the assessment of adverse environmental effects is deficient of the application lacks specialist reports it may be rejected within five working days in accordance with section 88(3).
• If your application is rejected you will receive written reasons for the rejection.  The lodgement fee (minus any costs incurred by the Council) will be retained by the Council and credited to the revised application when it is lodged.  If no revised application is lodged within eight weeks of the date of rejection, the remainder of the fee will be refunded.
• A site visit will be undertaken
• The application will be considered and the information provided audited by Council experts if necessary (for example EcoWater for stormwater or flooding matters, Traffic & Roading for traffic generation, parking issues)
• The Council will check to see if anyone is potentially adversely affected by the proposal
• The Council will determine if additional information is required under section 92 of the Resource Management Act 1991
• In the case of a discretionary or non-complying activity, the Resource Planner will assess these applications, prepare a report and make an assessment considering sections 93 and 94 of the Resource Management Act 1991 about whether the application should be processed as non-notified or notified. The Team Leader or Manager, Resource Consents has delegated authority to make this decision.
• The Resource Planner will prepare a separate report and recommendation under sections 104, 105 & 108 of the Resource Management Act. The Team Leaders or Manager Resource Consents, currently have delegated authority to make the decision about whether to grant or decline the application.
• The decision will be sent out to the applicant (or their representative)
• You as an applicant have the right of objection to the Council or appeal to the Environment Court on parts of or the whole of the decision.
• The Resource Management Amendment Act 2003 has extended the standard duration of resource consents from two to five years.  It is unlikely that the Council would grant tree consents for more than two years, as trees may grow to be much larger specimens in a five-year time period.  However, you should consider timing when preparing a resource consent application.
• You as the consent holder/s have two (2) years or the time specified in the consent to start the works associated with the consent if the application is approved
• The Council will monitor the conditions of the consent to check that these have been complied with

Non-notified timeframe

The Council recognises that the time taken to process an application is important to you. Delays are usually caused when the Council receives insufficient and/or incorrect information. The better the information provided with the initial application, the easier it is to process. 

• Non-notified resource consent applications are normally processed within three to four weeks once sufficient information is received
• Applications cannot be processed until the Council has received all the information it requires

There is no penalty in the Resource Management Act 1991 for failing to adhere to time limits; the onus is on Council to ensure that time limits are met. There is also a requirement under section 21 of the Act to avoid unreasonable delay. 

The Resource Management Act 1991 indicates the following relevant timeframes:

1. The date the application was received - this represents the start of the processing clock. The 20 working days for non-notified applications starts from the date the application was received. A 'working day' is defined in the Resource Management Act 1991 as "any day except
   1. a Saturday, a Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, ANZAC Day, Labour Day, the Sovereign's birthday and Waitangi Day and
   2. a day in the period beginning on 20 December in any year and ending with 10 January in the following year"
       
2. The application is put on-hold when additional information is requested under section 92. The time limit clock for the processing of resource consents starts on the day the application is first lodged with the Council.  While affected party approval is being obtained or futher information sought, the time limit clock is stopped, not reset back to zero. 
3. Generally requests for additional information are sent out within 10 to 12 working days of the application being received by the Council.
4. Decision on notification:
   Where it is decided to notify an application, this decision must be made and the application publicly notified, within 10 working days of either:
   

   (i)	Receiving the application, or
   (ii)	Where further information is sought, receipt of that information