Planning and Resource Consents

A deposit is required at the time you submit your resource consent application.  You will be invoiced for any additional amount once a decision has been made on your application. Resource management charges and deposit amounts are set annually through Council’s Annual Plan, please follow the link to the fees and charges breakdown. This will give you an average cost for the processing of applications.

Resource consents are processed on a full cost recovery basis. The actual cost of your resource consent will depend on the amount of time it takes to process it. You can reduce the processing time by ensuring you complete all forms thoroughly, providing Council with all of the required information and obtaining ‘Affected Party Approval’ from all parties you think will be affected by your proposal, before you submit your application to Council.

For more information about the processing of a resource consent application, including timeframes for processing, please see the guides on the Ministry for the Environment’s website https://environment.govt.nz/publications/applying-for-a-resource-consent/  

Fast track applications

A new fast track process for more straightforward applications (district land use activities) has been introduced by Research Legislation Amendment Act 2017 RLAA. This flow chart shows the resource consent process for fast track applications, and is intended for council planners, practitioners, and other interested parties.

• Fast track process

Affected parties are anyone that Council deems to be affected by a proposal. Often these are neighbours or surrounding landowners, however this may also include external partie’s such as Waka Kotahi (NZTA)(if your property adjoins a state highway), Department of Conservation (for example if the activity is in the coastal environment or margins of a lake or river) or the Buller District Council as the infrastructure owner.

In order to complete consent, the applicant must seek the approval of affected parties by way of a signature on a copy of the proposal plan and an affected party form. Check out the useful affected parties information and forms on our planning application page.

In this case consent may proceed as being limited notified. This means the people that Council has identified as being potentially affected, but haven’t provided their approval, are notified of your application and are given an opportunity to submit on your proposal. If no submissions are received, the consent may finish being processed. If a proposal receives any submissions and the submitter wishes to be heard, a hearing may be held.

Public notification on a consent occurs when Council deems the effects of a proposal to be more than minor or affecting the wider community. If a consent is publicly notified, members of the public are invited to submit for or against the proposal. In the event of no submissions, the consent may proceed. If submissions are received, the submitters are invited to a hearing to raise their issues. Following the hearing the submitter’s views are considered and a decision is given.

While processing time depends on the complexity of the application, you can speed up the process by making sure all the information we require is provided with the application. If you believe your neighbours may be an affected party it is a good idea to include their written approval with the application.

Note. Council often recommends working with a consultant, as although this can be costly, it can speed up the process and may actually reduce costs.

The first step for an applicant is to gather the necessary information needed for an application.

Following this, applicants should fill an application form and attach the necessary documents. The deposit must be paid at the time the application is submitted to the  Buller District Council.

Our Planners will then assess your application and begin processing it. A Consent application may be returned if it is incomplete. During processing the application may be put on hold by Council if further information or written approval from affected parties is required.

A site visit may also be conducted if it is deemed necessary to assist in processing the consent.

The consent may be limited notified if written approval cannot be sought from affected parties or at request of the applicant. Similarly consent may become publically notified at request of applicant or if the proposal may potentially have an effect on the greater community.

Finally, a decision will be issued to the applicant providing any conditions which must be complied with.

Note. Some consents require monitoring of particular conditions. This occurs after the consent has been granted.

To check the zoning of your property, go to Westmaps then click on Buller District Plan.

A recession plane is an angle taken from an internal boundary (i.e. one that adjoins another property rather than a road) to determine whether a proposed building will shade a neighbouring property more than is permitted. The recession plane guidelines can be found in Part 7.6 of the District Plan. 

To find out whether you need to apply for resource consent or for any other planning enquiry, please contact Council’s Duty Planner either by emailing planning@bdc.govt.nz, or by phone (03) 788 9603 between the hours of 10am to 12pm – 2 pm to 3pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to discuss your proposed activity.

You will also find the rules and controls relating to specific activities by referring to the relevant section of the District Plan.

If you do not start the activity authorised by your resource consent within five years of it being granted (or the commencement date specified on the consent), the resource consent will automatically lapse. If a consent is exercised and then not exercised for a continuous period of five years Council can also cancel a consent by giving written notice to the consent holder.

You can apply to us for an extension of the lapsing period provided you apply before the consent lapses. Council may only grant an extension of the lapsing period after considering whether substantial progress has been made, and continues to be made, giving effect to (exercising) the consent, if any affected parties have given their approval to the extension, and the effect of the extension on the objectives and policies of any relevant plans (ie the District Plan).

You may apply to change the condition of an active land use consent at any time. A change of condition to a subdivision consent must be made before the survey plan is deposited. If the consent was not originally notified then it can be a simple process handled by our Planning team.

If your consent was publicly or limited notified, then a change of condition may be subject to submissions and can lead to a hearing. The expiry date of a resource consent cannot be changed by seeking a change of conditions.

Monitoring of resource consents is carried out by Council’s Resource Monitoring Officers. This is separate from any monitoring or inspections related to a building consent. Consent holders have a legal obligation to comply with the conditions of their consent. If a condition requires monitoring, a monitoring fee will be applied at the final billing stage of the consent. From this point a monitoring officer may visit your site to ensure compliance with the consent condition. Additional fees for monitoring may be charged if fees go over and above the initial fee charged.

If a consent holder does not comply with the conditions of their consent, Council staff may take enforcement action to require compliance. The exact nature of this action will depend on matters such as the degree of non-compliance, frequency and the effect on the environment, but ultimately the Resource Management Act gives Council both the duty and the tools to enforce compliance. The maximum penalties set out in the Act are very severe.

The National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health (NES) applies to particular activities on a piece of land where an activity or industry described in the current edition of the Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL) is being undertaken, has been undertaken, or it is more likely than not that it is being or has been undertaken.

To help determine whether or not the NES will apply, please ensure you fill in the below NES declaration form and submit it with all resource consent applications.

Declaration for The National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health (NES)

All resource consent applications must be considered subject to Part 2 of the RMA. In reaching a decision on an application, Council has to be satisfied that by granting the application, Part 2 of the RMA will be achieved. Resource consent applications must include an assessment of the activity against the matters set out in Part 2 of the RMA. To assist in providing a Part 2 Assessment, feel free to use the below document and fill in the relevant sections and submit it with your application:

• Part 2 RMA Assessment

Information on Deemed Permitted boundary activity can be accessed from the Environment government website.

View Buller District Council's resource consent/resource management costs on our fees and charges page.