Annual Survey of Local Authorities

Key Facts About Local Authorities and Resource Consents in 2005/2006

The Resource Management Act: Key Facts About Local Authorities and Resource Consents in 2005/2006

About the RMA Survey of Local Authorities

Every two years the Ministry for the Environment carries out the Resource Management Act (RMA) survey of the 85 local authorities in New Zealand. The survey includes questions about key aspects of RMA processes:

• numbers and types of resource consents processed
• time taken to process resource consents
• charges to applicants for resource consent applications
• monitoring, compliance and enforcement
• Māori participation in RMA processes
• good practice by local authorities
• numbers of plan changes and variations.

The primary purpose of the survey is to help monitor the effect and implementation of the RMA. The survey results also have the added advantage of:

• promoting good practice and improved performance in local authorities
• providing a factual basis for analysing and responding to criticisms of the RMA
• allowing individual local authorities to compare performance with their peers.

This brochure highlights the key facts on RMA processes for the 2005/2006 financial year. The full report on the RMA Survey of Local Authorities can be found on the Ministry for the Environment’s website at: www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/annual-survey/.

Five key facts from 2005/2006

• 51,768 resource consents were processed through to a decision.
• 0.69% (357) of resource consent applications processed were declined.
• 4.1% (2,129) of resource consents were publicly notified.
• 1.5% (768) of resource consents were notified to affected parties only (limited notification).
• 73% of all resource consents were processed within statutory time limits.

Resource consent processing

• 51,768 resource consents were processed through to a decision.
• 4.1% (2,129) of resource consents were publicly notified.
• 1.5% (768) of resource consents were notified to affected parties only (limited notification).
• Local authority officers acting under delegated authority made 87% of decisions on resource consent applications.
• 0.69% (357) of resource consent applications processed were declined.
• 1.0% (543) of resource consent decisions were appealed to the Environment Court.

Resource consents processed

Consent type	Subdivision	Land-use	Coastal	Water	Discharge	Total
Notified	339	688	272	506	324	2,129
Limited notified	163	419	49	43	94	768
Non-notified	11,897	29,568	1,480	1,956	3,970	48,871
Total	12,399	30,675	1,801	2,505	4,388	51,768

Source: RMA survey of local authorities 2005/2006, question 1.6

Consents processed within time

• 73% of all resource consent applications were processed within statutory time limits.
• 56% of all publicly notified resource consent applications were processed within statutory time limits.
• 60% of all resource consent applications that went through limited notification were processed within statutory time limits.
• 74% of all non-notified resource consent applications were processed within statutory time limits.
• Section 37 was used to extend statutory time limits for 17% of the total resource consent applications processed.

Charges to applicants for resource consent applications

Over 2005/2006 charges for resource consent application processing varied depending on the type of consent and issuing authority.

Good practice by local authorities

The results of the RMA survey are used to highlight and monitor the use of good practice by local authorities to improve performance in resource management functions.

• 89% of local authorities defined the environmental effects that must be addressed in resource consent applications for controlled and restricted discretionary activities.
• 76% of local authorities followed a structured process to check that environmental effects are adequately identified and addressed in assessments of environmental effects.
• 61% of local authorities had internal guidance notes or checklists available to help staff determine when to notify an application.
• 59% of local authorities had internal guidance notes or checklists available to staff on how to identify potentially affected parties.
• All 85 local authorities monitored whether consents are processed within statutory time limits.
• 79% of local authorities undertook formal monitoring and reporting of consent processing performance, the results of which were made available to ratepayers.

Monitoring, compliance and enforcement

• 74% of consents monitored fully complied with their resource consent conditions.
• 109,964 complaints about alleged breaches of the RMA were recorded, including excessive noise complaints.
• 56% of complaints were resolved through informal means rather than requiring formal action.
• 63% of breaches of resource consent conditions were resolved using informal means.
• 1,507 infringement notices were issued.

Percentage of local authorities monitoring and reporting

Local authority type		Regional	Territorial	Unitary	All
State of the environment	Monitor	100%	46%	100%	57%
	Report	92%	22%	80%	36%
Suitability and effectiveness of policies and plans	Monitor	75%	52%	60%	56%
	Report	58%	27%	40%	32%
Functions delegated/ transferred	Monitor	67%	44%	40%	47%
	Report	50%	29%	40%	33%
Compliance with conditions	Monitor	100%	93%	80%	93%
	Report	100%	47%	60%	55%
Complaints register	Monitor	100%	81%	80%	84%
	Report	100%	46%	80%	55%

Source: RMA survey of local authorities 2005/2006, question 4.1

Māori participation in RMA processes

• 89% of local authorities had standard resource consent conditions which cover the discovery of significant sites or items to tangata whenua.
• 21% of local authorities involved tangata whenua in resource consent monitoring.
• 38% of local authorities made a budgetary commitment to Māori/iwi participation in resource management processes.
• 59% of local authorities had written criteria or a set policy to guide staff in determining when tangata whenua should be considered an affected party to resource consent applications and be notified of the proposal.
• 32% of local authorities had a policy requiring a cultural impact assessment as part of the resource consent application when a site, species or resource is of concern to tangata whenua.
• 61% of local authorities had formal memorandum of understandings, protocols, joint management agreements or service level agreements with tangata whenua and 54% had informal arrangements.

Plan changes and variations

• 127 council initiated 20 privately initiated plan changes to operative district or regional plans were completed.
• 37 variations to proposed district or regional plans were completed.

Resource consents processed by individual local authorities

Local authorities are grouped into family groups according to their authority type and, in the case of the 69 territorial authorities, the number of resource consents they process.

Note that the percentages for resource consents processed within time limits should be interpreted with caution. A consent application may be processed outside of the time limit at the request of the applicant and in this situation does not reflect any inefficiency on the part of the local authority. Some local authorities’ computer systems did not allow them to account for non-working days and/or section 37 extensions and they may appear to have more decisions outside of statutory timeframes than there actually were.

View table of resource consents processed by individual local authorities (large table)

Next survey

The next RMA survey of local authorities will cover the 2007/2008 financial year. The survey questionnaire will be released to local authorities before 30 June 2007 and responses will be collected after 30 June 2008.