Councils – and their ratepayers – will pay for late processing of resource consents under a scheme outlined by Environment Minister Nick Smith in Christchurch today.He revealed the details when he addressed a planning conference. Applicants wi
Councils – and their ratepayers – will pay for late processing of resource consents under a scheme outlined by Environment Minister Nick Smith in Christchurch today.
He revealed the details when he addressed a planning conference. Applicants will receive a discount of 1% of the cost of the application per working day up to a maximum of 50%.
Mr Smith told the attendees that the new regulations will incentivise prompt processing and said they were a response to deteriorating processing times over the past 10 years. Late processing had increased from 18% to 31%, he said.
Application costs vary significantly depending on the complexity of the application and whether it has been notified or not.
A list of resource consent charges on one regional council's web site shows a range from $225 for a compliance certificate, $315 to install a bore, and $2250 for a stormwater discharge consent,. If public notification is required the application cost is $1125 and can rise to around $7000 per day if a hearings panel is required.
The September 2009 Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act included a provision for regulations setting up a national default discount policy for late consents.
The Ministry for the Environment will produce guidance information for applying the regulations and will hold presentations with local authorities in July.
However, Local Government New Zealand says the regulations have been poorly thought out and general ratepayers could wind up subsidising applicants for anything from basic home extensions to publicly notifiable windfarms, according to spokesman Stephen Cairns.
He questioned how the government could impose the regulations when there is no current statistical evidence to quantify the nature and extent of the issue.
There were many factors that slow down the processing of applications. Assessing fault could lead to a more adversarial relationship between councils and applicants.
Furthermore, the new penalties put good practice by councils at risk by compromising quality hearing panels, damaging positive relationships between applicants and councils, shutting down the option of pre-hearings and causing impossible time barriers for consultation.
Ratepayers would end up wearing the costs regardless of who was at fault.
