Frequently asked questions on limited notification
What is limited notification?
Section 95B of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) relates to limited notification. An application is notified on a limited basis when:
- the council has determined that the application need not be publicly notified in accordance with s95A (that is, the adverse effects on the environment beyond the site itself and any adjacent properties will not be more than minor, or a rule or a national environmental standards precludes public notification); and
- when the applicant has not obtained the written approval of all those persons who are considered to be potentially adversely affected by the proposal under s95E.
Notice of the application must then be served on all persons who are considered to be adversely affected, excluding those persons who have provided their written approval to the application. It is therefore very important to correctly identify and justify who are the potentially affected persons who have not provided approval.
However, s77D provides that rules in plans can specify that;
- the application must be publicly notified
- the application must not be publicly notified
- the application must not be limited notified.
This means that is some cases limited notification can not be carried out (even if there are affected parties who haven 't given their written approval) because a rule in the plan under which the application needs consent precludes limited notification.
What is service?
Service is formal supply of a notice either by means of the delivery of a letter or issue of a public notice. The notice must provide all information specified as being required by the relevant part of the RMA and/or Regulations.
The date of service is the date on which the notice was received, which may not necessarily be the day after the notice was posted. For the purposes of notification, the date of service is for practical purposes normally taken as the day after the notice was sent or posted and or the date of the public notice being published or issued. If both methods are used (for public notification purposes) then the latter of the two dates is taken as the date of service for the purpose of calculating the submissions period.
What are the time frames for processing 'limited notification' applications?
As with a publicly notified application, a submitter has 20 working days from the date of service of the notice to make a submission. A council then has 25 working days in which to commence a hearing. The decision on the hearing must be released within 15 working days after the hearing.
However, if a hearing is not held, (as provided under s100) then notice of the decision must be given no less than 20 working days after the close of submissions.
What happens if you receive a submission from someone who was not served with a notice?
When an application is notified on a limited basis, notice is served on all those persons that the council considers may be adversely affected by the proposal that have not provided their written approval. This determination should follow from a thorough assessment of the effects of the proposal. This is no different to making a determination that an application is to be processed on a non-notified basis.
On occasion, a person may make a 'submission' who has not been identified as a potentially adversely affected person. You should acknowledge the person's submission in writing, explain why they are deemed not to be an adversely affected person and that their submission is not valid. This should also be set out in the officer 's report.
This will ensure that the decision-maker(s) have all available information before them at the time they make a decision (see Westfield (New Zealand) Ltd v North Shore City Council [2005]NZSC 17).
In regard to submissions relating to trade competition refer to s308B of the RMA and the Trade competition fact sheet.
What are the benefits of limited notification?
Prior to limited notification councils were required to publicly notify applications where one or more adversely affected person(s) had not given their written approval. The full public notification process allows any member of the public, regardless of whether they are affected or not, to submit in support or opposition to a proposal. If the decision is appealed, the submitter also has standing in the Environment Court.
The limited notification process results in reduced costs and streamlines the consent process by:
- not requiring a public notice in the paper and on the site
- resulting in less complex and comprehensive applications and planner reports
- reducing administrative costs associated with not having to prepare public notices and signs, and having to process submissions
- only allowing affected parties the opportunity for further involvement in the resource consent process.
If a hearing is required then it is likely that the time taken to issue a decision will be similar to a notified application. Decisions on whether to conduct hearings or not will depend on each council's delegations.
Other savings could be made in the way:
- councils decide to undertake hearings
- the number of councillors used to determine the application
- the length of time required to hold the hearing
- reduced possibility of appeals to the Environment Court.
