Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Plain Language Law homepage
95A: Public notification of consent applications
or “This explains how officials decide if everyone should know about someone's request to use land or resources.”

You could also call this:

“Telling some people about permission requests for special activities”

When someone asks for a resource consent, there’s a process to decide who needs to be told about it. If the application isn’t going to be publicly announced, here’s what happens:

First, you need to check if there are any protected customary rights groups or customary marine title groups that might be affected. You also need to see if the activity might affect land that’s part of a statutory acknowledgement, and if the person who received that acknowledgement is affected.

If you find any affected groups or people, you need to tell them about the application.

Next, you check if the application meets certain criteria. If it does, you skip the next step. If it doesn’t, you move on to the next step.

For boundary activities, you need to check if any neighbours with affected boundaries are considered affected people. For other activities, you need to figure out who else might be affected.

You then need to tell all these affected people about the application.

Finally, you need to decide if there are any special reasons to tell anyone else about the application. If there are, you tell those people too. If not, you don’t tell anyone else.

Throughout this process, you might need to look at other parts of the law to help you make decisions. These are linked in the original text.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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: 95C: Public notification of consent application after request for further information or report

or “The council must tell everyone about a resource consent application if the applicant doesn't give more information or agree to a report when asked.”

Part 6 Resource consents
Public notification and limited notification of applications

95BLimited notification of consent applications

  1. A consent authority must follow the steps set out in this section, in the order given, to determine whether to give limited notification of an application for a resource consent, if the application is not publicly notified under section 95A.

  2. Determine whether there are any—

  3. affected protected customary rights groups; or
    1. affected customary marine title groups (in the case of an application for a resource consent for an accommodated activity).
      1. Determine—

      2. whether the proposed activity is on or adjacent to, or may affect, land that is the subject of a statutory acknowledgement made in accordance with an Act specified in Schedule 11; and
        1. whether the person to whom the statutory acknowledgement is made is an affected person under section 95E.
          1. Notify the application to each affected group identified under subsection (2) and each affected person identified under subsection (3).

          2. Determine whether the application meets either of the criteria set out in subsection (6) and,—

          3. if the answer is yes, go to step 4 (step 3 does not apply); and
            1. if the answer is no, go to step 3.
              1. The criteria for step 2 are as follows:

              2. the application is for a resource consent for 1 or more activities, and each activity is subject to a rule or national environmental standard that precludes limited notification:
                1. the application is for a controlled activity (but no other activities) that requires a resource consent under a district plan (other than a subdivision of land).
                  1. In the case of a boundary activity, determine in accordance with section 95E whether an owner of an allotment with an infringed boundary is an affected person.

                  2. In the case of any other activity, determine whether a person is an affected person in accordance with section 95E.

                  3. Notify each affected person identified under subsections (7) and (8) of the application.

                  4. Determine whether special circumstances exist in relation to the application that warrant notification of the application to any other persons not already determined to be eligible for limited notification under this section (excluding persons assessed under section 95E as not being affected persons), and,—

                  5. if the answer is yes, notify those persons; and
                    1. if the answer is no, do not notify anyone else.
                      Notes
                      • Section 95B: replaced, on , by section 137 of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                      • Section 95B(6)(b): replaced, on , by section 34(1) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).
                      • Section 95B(7): replaced, on , by section 34(2) of the Resource Management Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 30).