Application received by consent authority

The process commences when a person lodges an application with the resource consent authority, which must include an assessment of effects on the environment. The consent authority may reject an application as incomplete if it does not include the prescribed information or an adequate assessment of environmental effects. ⁸³⁶  The consent authority has 10 working days to determine whether the application is incomplete. It must immediately return an incomplete application, with written reasons for the determination.

The consent authority can defer the processing of the application if other resource consents are required and, for the purpose of better understanding the nature of the proposal, applications for those resource consents should be lodged before proceeding further. ⁸³⁷  

It is considered good resource management practice for all required consents to be identified from the outset, applied for contemporaneously and considered together. This ensures that all effects, including cumulative effects, can be taking into account in decided whether consents should be granted. ⁸³⁸

Once the application is lodged it becomes public information. The Council will provide copies of the application to people who ask for them. Where the application contains material which is commercially sensitive the Council may agree to keep the sensitive information private.

Last updated at 5:03PM on March 9, 2015