Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

 Plain Language Law homepage
Back to
355A: Application for consent to unlawful reclamation
or “You can ask for permission to keep land that was wrongly taken from the sea.”
You could also call this:

“The government can take action if someone builds on the beach without permission.”

If someone has illegally reclaimed land from the sea since this law started, the Minister of Conservation, regional councils, and the EPA can use their powers from Part 12 to deal with it. They can treat the reclaimed land as if it were still part of the sea.

For land that was illegally reclaimed before this law began, these same authorities can ask the Environment Court to make the person who reclaimed the land, or whoever is using it now, fix any problems the reclamation might cause to the environment. The rules in Part 12 will be used for this, with some changes to make them fit the situation.

Even if they haven’t asked the court for help, or if the court hasn’t agreed to help, the Minister of Conservation, regional councils, and the EPA can work together or separately to remove the illegally reclaimed land and put it back into the sea.

Just to be clear, if they want to remove reclaimed land, they need to get permission first. This permission is called a resource consent. The only time they don’t need this is if there’s a specific rule in the regional coastal plan (including any proposed plans) that says it’s okay.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

Next up: 356: Matters may be determined by arbitration

or “People who can't agree on something can ask a special court to let them use a different way to solve their problem.”
Next

Part 14 Miscellaneous provisions

355BEnforcement powers against unlawful reclamations

  1. Where, since the date of commencement of this Act, any land has been unlawfully reclaimed from the coastal marine area, the powers of the Minister of Conservation, a regional council, and the EPA under Part 12 apply to that reclaimed land as if the land were still situated within the coastal marine area.

  2. Where any land has been unlawfully reclaimed from the coastal marine area before the commencement of this Act, the Minister of Conservation, a regional council, or the EPA may seek an enforcement order against the person who reclaimed the land, or the occupier of the reclaimed land, requiring that person to take such action as, in the opinion of the Environment Court, is necessary in order to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any actual or likely adverse effect on the environment caused by the carrying out of the reclamation or by the reclaimed land; and in any such case Part 12 applies with all necessary modifications.

  3. Whether or not an enforcement order has been sought or granted under subsection (2), the Minister of Conservation, a regional council, and the EPA, either jointly or severally, may take any necessary action to remove the unlawfully reclaimed land from the coastal marine area.

  4. For the avoidance of doubt, any action taken under subsection (3) to remove any reclaimed land requires a resource consent unless expressly allowed by a rule in a regional coastal plan and any relevant proposed regional coastal plan.

Notes
  • Section 355B: inserted, on , by section 58 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 104).
  • Section 355B(1): amended, on , by section 98(1) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).
  • Section 355B(2): amended, on , by section 98(2) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).
  • Section 355B(3): amended, on , by section 98(3) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).