Auckland Council’s resource consent processes up for review

Among the brain-teasers facing Auckland Council is whether to review the policy on what resource consent information should be made publicly available.

Currently, only notified consent applications are posted on Auckland Council’s website, and all consents, including non-notified applications, are listed as they come in on the websites of former Councils, including that of the former Rodney District Council.

An Auckland Council spokesperson says this policy of listing non-notified consents will continue “for a while yet”. The spokesperson says Council is still working through what the process will be going forward.

There is no legal requirement for all consents to be made public, and this has been done at the discretion of the local authority.

On the Hibiscus Coast there are numerous examples of residents being alerted to consents they would have otherwise have been unaware of via this listing.

The most recent example is a current application by Kensington Park Holdings to build apartments taller than allowed under the District Plan. Public interest in this application has led to a decision on notification being put before independent commissioners, rather than Council staff.

Auckland Council’s resource consents manager Heather Harris says Council must publicly notify an application if the activity will have, or is likely to have, adverse effects on the environment that are more than minor. The applicant can also request public notification and some regional or district plan rules require public notification.

The final decision on notification generally rests with Council’s senior planning officers. The percentage of applications that are notified is generally less than five percent.

Published December 2010