If an application is in with Council and is complete at the time a plan change is notified, the application is considered against the objectives and policies in the operative and notified plans. The weight that these new objectives and policies would carry compared to the existing ones is based on direction from the Courts and the weighting criteria includes:

1. The extent, if any, to which the proposed measure might have been exposed to testing and independent decision making;
2. Circumstances of injustice;
3. The extent to which a new measure, or the absence of one, might implement a coherent pattern of objectives and policies in a plan; and
4. Whether there has been a significant change in Council policy and the new provisions are in accordance with Part 2 of the RMA.

The activity status of the application is ‘frozen’, so it does not change from the one that existed at the time the application was lodged.

How these applications are treated depends on the content of the plan change. The content of this plan is yet to be developed, but there is direction from the Minister that this plan change is small in scope.

Until the plan change is notified applications will continue to be processed in the same manner that they have been. If you would like to talk about progressing your applications, then please get in touch.

The Skelton report and Minister’s recommendations are both matters that could relevantly be considered by a decision-maker under section 104(1)(c). The Minister’s recommendations have been made under section 24A of the RMA, which local authorities are required to act on.

Consent duration needs to be considered on a case by case basis and genuine thought needs to be given to all relevant matters

Any application prepared and lodged now will still need to meet the requirements of the 4th Schedule of the RMA and Section 88. This is because no plan change has been notified and the current rules, objectives and policies apply. Fully completing Council’s application form for water permits and including an assessment in effects that corresponds to the scale and significance of the activity is required.

If you would like to sit down with a senior member of the consents team to talk about your current application or applications you want to lodge, then please contact 0800 470 082 or email deemed.permits@orc.govt.nz