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39B: Persons who may be given hearing authority
or “Rules about who can be chosen to listen to and decide on things like building permits or changes to local plans”
You could also call this:

“Decisions still count even if the people making them aren't officially approved”

If a local authority tries to give permission to a person or group under [section 39B], but fails to do so because the person, the group’s chairperson, or the group’s members aren’t properly accredited, there are some things you need to know.

Even if the local authority makes this mistake, it doesn’t mean that any decisions made by that person or group are automatically invalid. The decisions they make are still considered valid, even though they weren’t properly accredited as [section 39B] requires.

This rule helps to protect the validity of decisions, even when there’s been a mistake in the accreditation process. It means that the work done by these people isn’t automatically thrown out just because of an accreditation error.

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Next up: 40: Persons who may be heard at hearings

or “This law explains who can speak and share information at special meetings about the environment.”
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Part 4 Functions, powers, and duties of central and local government
Powers and duties in relation to hearings

39CEffect of lack of accreditation

  1. This section applies when a local authority purports to give authority under section 39B to a person or group of persons, but does not in fact give it because the person, chairperson of the group, or members of the group are not accredited as required by the section.

  2. No decision made by the person or group of persons is invalid solely because the person, chairperson of the group, or members of the group were not accredited as required by section 39B.

Notes
  • Section 39C: inserted, on , by section 23 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 87).