Preparing your Resource Consent Application

Once you have worked out that you need a resource consent, you will need to gather together the relevant information.

Get an application form

Download an application form or collect one from Council Offices [28 Holloway Street, Carterton].

Resource Consent Application Form 

All applications also require an assessment of environmental effects which is usually referred to as an AEE.

The requirements for an AEE are set out in the Resource Management Act 1991.

You should also refer to the district plan for a guide about what to include in your AEE.

As well, the Ministry for the Environment has prepared a guide for preparing a basic AEE.

A guide to preparing a basic assessment of environmental effects

Get specialist reports if needed

You may need to obtain a report from a professional.

For example, if landscaping is an issue for your project, you may need to engage a landscape architect to prepare a report describing the effects of your project in landscape terms.

The more detailed and accurate the information you provide us, the more quickly and efficiently we will be able to process your application.

Send your application to us

Once your application is complete, then you send it to us for processing.

Deliver or post your application to

Planning Department, Carterton District Council,  Holloway Street, Carterton.

If your application has insufficient information it will be returned to you advising what additional information is required. If your application is accepted you will be advised by an acknowledgment letter.

If you’re unfamiliar with the resource consent process, getting advice may be a good idea.

Before you submit your application, we can provide advice and guidance as part of our pre-application service. We particularly recommend this service for all complex proposals.

You may also need assistance or advice from a resource management consultant, surveyor (in the case of a subdivision application), landscape architect, or another specialist advisor.

If your proposal looks as if it will be large or complex, you may wish to consider getting legal advice as well as other professional advice. Getting advice at the start of the project can save you time and money later.

Consulting affected parties

When deciding on a resource consent, we don’t only think about the effects on the natural environment. We also consider how the activity will affect other people’s use and enjoyment of the environment. Consulting with people who might be affected by your proposal might be useful to:

• Find out whether they are likely to support or oppose your proposal
• Find out whether any issues they might have can be addressed by you
• Obtain their written approval for your proposal.

If all the people who are likely to be affected by your proposal provide their written approval, your application may be able to be processed without public notification. This may speed up the consent process and minimise cost.

Although you are not required to consult, you may find it beneficial to do so.

However, ‘consultation’ does not mean ‘agreement’. Even after consulting, there still may remain unresolved issues.

Who to consult

• Adjacent landowners/occupiers
• Other users of the resource (e.g. users of a river you wish to take water from)
• Tangata whenua (local iwi/hapu authorities)
• Anyone else affected by your proposal.

When to consult

The timing is up to you but you may wish to consider consulting at the earliest opportunity to give affected people the chance to consider your proposal.

You may also wish to consider consulting more than once as your proposal develops and is refined.

Consulting with Iwi

The Resource Management Act recognises that iwi have a special cultural and spiritual relationship with the environment. Applicants are encouraged to consult early with local iwi who may be affected or interested in a proposal so that they have time to consider and advise of any concerns.

When considering an application we need to recognise and provide for the relationship of Maori, their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, waahi tapu and other taonga (treasures).

If you are unsure who to contact, please contact us.

Remember, consultation does not require agreement. It is to allow you and the council to be informed about the views of iwi. If iwi concerns cannot be resolved, and you still want to proceed with your application, then it is imperative that you have made a genuine attempt to consult in an open and honest manner, so that their views are recorded and can be taken into account.

Iwi expectations

In general, when iwi are approached to consult over a proposal, they may have the expectation that:

• They have access to all relevant consent information
• There is a willingness to meet face to face, and that their views are respected
• If a meeting is agreed to take place on a local marae, any marae costs are met as part of the consultation process
• The applicant commission and pay for a ‘Cultural Impact Assessment Report’. This may be desirable for a large-scale development, and/or where it can be demonstrated that the proposed activity may have a significant impact on the iwi.

A fee to cover the costs of consultation may be requested by iwi. It is therefore advisable that you discuss potential costs prior to starting consultation.

Obtaining written approvals

If you get written approvals from the people who may be affected by your proposal, then your application may be able to be dealt with on a non-notified basis.

If these approvals are not provided, your application may be subject to limited notification (where only the affected parties are notified). However, if we think there are likely to be more than minor effects on the environment your application will be publicly notified.

To obtain written approval you should:

• Identify anyone likely to be affected by your proposed activity. We can help you with this
• Finalise your plans before seeking the approval from affected people. If you revise your plans after approval has been obtained, you will generally need to go back and ask for their approval again
• Ensure each affected person (or someone who has power of attorney to sign on their behalf) completes the Written Approval of Affected Persons form and signs a full copy of the plans unconditionally. The approval of both owners and occupiers (if they are different) is required. Where the property is jointly owned, the consents of all owners, trustees or directors of a company is required

Keep an open mind, be flexible and allow a reasonable timeframe – you may be able to change your proposal to meet an affected person’s concerns and still achieve your own objectives.

Written Approval of Affected Persons form