Why am I Being Asked to Give My Approval?

Giving your approval to a proposal

If you are approached by someone, maybe your neighbour, requesting your approval to their proposal you need to:

• understand what the proposal is and how it may affect you
• get a copy of the plans, any specialist reports and the assessment of effects

Why am I being requested to give my written approval? 

Has the Council identified you as an adversely affected person?
If the Council has decided you are potentially adversely affected by a proposal on an adjoining or nearby site then it is up to the applicant to obtain your written approval to the proposal. 

Please understand that if you give your written approval, the Council is unable to take account of any adverse (negative) effects that the proposal may have on you and your property when it makes a decision on whether to grant or refuse the application. 

If you have any concerns about the proposal you should feel able to discuss these with the applicant. There may be different ways that they can achieve their proposal that may also meet any concerns that you may have. It is appropriate to negotiate an alternative solution to reduce the effects of the proposal on you and your property. 

If you do support the proposal and want to give your approval, you should sign the affected persons approval form (if there is one), the application plans and maybe the assessment of effects for the application. The applicant is required to show you all these documents. This is also a safeguard for you so that you are quite clear what you are agreeing to. Ask the applicant for a copy of the signed documents and keep them.

Can I change my mind? 
Remember that you are allowed to change your mind after you have given written consent. If you decide to withdraw your approval you must do so as soon as possible as the Council may need to notify the application.

In the event that you do change your mind, firstly phone the Resource Consents section and secondly send a brief letter recording your withdrawal of the approval. You do not have to state reasons for withdrawing. Note that the withdrawal of the approval may mean the application has to be publicly notified or that the applicant may decide to withdraw the application. 

Should I get advice? 
The Resource Planners at Council can answer general questions about the District Plan rules that the proposal may infringe. However in some cases it maybe necessary to get advice from a professional i.e. lawyer, or resource management consultant.

If you do not support the application, you are within your rights to not give your approval if requested. The Resource Management Act 1991 places no compulsion on you to give your approval; you do not need to give reasons for not giving approval; and there is no defined time-frame in which you must decide whether to give your approval or not. However if an applicant gives you a date to respond by, this is usually for their convenience and it is not a Council deadline. Therefore if you need more time to consider the proposal then ask for it.