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Planning Bill

Planning consents - Consideration of application and decision

148: Determination of planning consent

You could also call this:

"Deciding if you can do something on your land"

When you apply for a planning consent, the consent authority looks at your application. They can then decide to grant or refuse it. If they grant it, they may add conditions to the consent. If the authority grants the application, they can add conditions for certain types of activities. For some activities, they can only add conditions for matters that a land use plan or national rule says they have control over. For other activities, they can add conditions under section 151. The consent authority can decide what type of activity your application is for, even if it is different from what you said. They can also refuse your application if they do not have enough information to make a decision. When deciding if they have enough information, they look at whether you provided more information or reports when they asked for them.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1494269.

This page was last updated on 12 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Environment and resources > Town planningHousing and property > Land use

147: Matters for which consent must not be granted, or

"When You Can't Get Planning Consent"

149: Consent authority may grant application with adaptive management approach, or

"The council can approve a plan with conditions to test and adjust as it goes along."

Part 4Planning consents
Consideration of application and decision

148Determination of planning consent

After considering an application for a planning consent, a consent authority may grant or refuse the application.
If it grants the application, the consent authority may impose conditions on the planning consent,—
for a restricted discretionary activity, only for those matters over which a land use plan, proposed land use plan, or national rule has reserved discretion:
for a discretionary activity, under section 151.

A consent authority may grant a planning consent on the basis that the activity is a restricted discretionary activity or a discretionary activity regardless of what type of activity the application was expressed to be for.
A consent authority may decline an application for a planning consent on the ground that it has inadequate information to determine the application.
In making an assessment on the adequacy of the information, the consent authority must have regard to whether any request made of the applicant for further information or reports resulted in further information or any report being made available.