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Resource Management Act 1991

Resource consents - Streamlining decision-making on resource consents

87G: Environment Court determines application

You could also call this:

“The special court decides if you can change or use land and water in a certain way”

If you want the Environment Court to decide on your resource consent application instead of a consent authority, you need to follow these steps:

You need to send a notice to the Environment Court within 15 working days after you get a report about your application. This notice should explain why you want the resource consent and include a supporting statement.

You also need to send copies of this notice to the consent authority and anyone who made a submission about your application. Then, you must tell the court when you’ve done this.

The consent authority will then send your application, their report, all the submissions they received, and any other information they have about it to the Environment Court.

If you made a submission to the consent authority and want to be heard by the Environment Court, you need to let the court know.

The Environment Court will look at your application as if it were a consent authority. They will use the same rules that a consent authority would use when deciding on resource consents or changes to existing consents.

For some special types of applications, like those for coastal permits for aquaculture activities, the court might need to get extra information and send it to the Ministry of Fisheries.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2414718.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Land use
Environment and resources > Town planning
Government and voting > Local councils
Housing and property > Land use
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87F: Consent authority's subsequent processing, or

“How the authority handles a request and prepares a report on a resource consent application”

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87H: Residual powers of consent authority, or

“The local council can still manage a project even if a special court made the decision about it”

Part 6 Resource consents
Streamlining decision-making on resource consents

87GEnvironment Court determines application

  1. Subsection (2) applies to an applicant who—

  2. receives a report provided under section 87F(5); and
    1. continues to want the application to be determined by the Environment Court instead of by a consent authority.

      1. The application is referred to the Environment Court by the applicant,—

      2. within 15 working days after receiving the report, lodging with the Environment Court a notice of motion in the prescribed form applying for the grant of the resource consent (or the change or cancellation of the condition) and specifying the grounds upon which the application for the grant of the resource consent (or the change or cancellation of the condition) is made, and a supporting affidavit as to the matters giving rise to that application; and
        1. as soon as is reasonably practicable after lodging the notice of motion, serving a copy of the notice of motion and affidavit on—
          1. the consent authority that granted the applicant's request under section 87D; and
            1. every person who made a submission to the authority on the application; and
            2. telling the Registrar of the Environment Court by written notice when the copies have been served.

              1. A consent authority served under subsection (2)(b)(i) must, without delay, provide the Environment Court with—

              2. the application to which the notice of motion relates; and
                1. the authority's report on the application; and
                  1. all the submissions on the application that the authority received; and
                    1. all the information and reports on the application that the authority was supplied with.

                      1. Section 274 applies to the notice of motion, and any person who has made a submission to the consent authority on the application and wishes to be heard on the matter by the Environment Court must give notice to the court in accordance with that section.

                      2. Parts 11 and 11A apply to proceedings under this section.

                      3. If considering a matter that is an application for a resource consent, the court must apply sections 104 to 112 and 138A as if it were a consent authority.

                      4. If considering a matter that is an application for a change to or cancellation of conditions of a resource consent, the court must apply sections 104 to 112 as if—

                      5. it were a consent authority and the application were an application for resource consent for a discretionary activity; and
                        1. every reference to a resource consent and to the effects of the activity were, respectively, a reference to the change or cancellation of a condition and the effects of the change or cancellation.

                          1. However, in the case of an application for a coastal permit for aquaculture activities, for the purposes of section 107F(3)(b) or (c), the consent authority must obtain from the Environment Court any additional information, reports, or submissions not previously forwarded or sent under that section and forward or send the information, report, and submissions to the chief executive of the Ministry of Fisheries.

                          Notes
                          • Section 87G: inserted, on , by section 69 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                          • Section 87G(2): replaced, on , by section 15(1) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 63).
                          • Section 87G(2)(a): amended, on , by section 90 of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 63).
                          • Section 87G(4): amended, on , by section 15(2) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 63).
                          • Section 87G(5): amended, on , by section 15(3) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 63).
                          • Section 87G(8): inserted, on , by section 20 of the Resource Management Amendment Act (No 2) 2011 (2011 No 70).