Once we've received your consent application for either land use or subdivision, we will assess your application, may visit your proposal site and compile a report.
The stages are outlined below.
Accepting your application
We will check that your application is complete and that you have paid your lodgement fee (the full and final consent fee will be charged at the end of the consent process).
If we accept your application as complete, it will be processed. We may also ask you to provide additional information after the application has been accepted.
If we find that your application is incomplete, we will return it to you, along with a letter explaining why it was not accepted for processing. You will then need to advise us if you would like to resubmit or withdraw your application.
This resubmission will be treated as a new application and you'll need to pay a new application fee if any of the initial deposit for your first submission was returned to you.
Notification assessment
Once your application has been accepted, we will consider the scale and significance of any adverse environmental effects associated with your proposal. We need as much information as you can supply us with so we can determine these effects - otherwise we may need to come back to you for more information and this might cause delays.
Most resource consent applications are processed on a 'non-notified' basis and are not open to submissions. In these cases, you will receive your decision more quickly (see below). However if the application is notified, there will be a delay while submissions are gathered and assessed and/or a hearing on your application takes place.
Substantive decision-making
The vast majority of resource consent applications are approved, some are withdrawn and some may be declined. For notified applications, the relevant submissions will also be considered as part of this process.
In considering whether to approve or decline your application, we have to consider the purpose and principles of the RMA. The consent authority looks at any relevant planning provisions, the environmental effects associated with the proposal and any other matters it considers relevant and reasonably necessary to determine the application.
Some land use and most subdivision consent applications will incur development contributions.
If consent is granted you will need to comply with conditions of consent and these will be monitored.