Who do I consult?
This section will help you identify who you should consult about your proposal.
Difference between interested and affected parties
A common area of confusion is the difference between people interested in your application or proposed activity, and 'affected' parties. While consultation is not mandatory under the RMA, the council may suggest that you talk to 'interested persons or parties'. It may suggest who these people may be. Once an application has been lodged, the council will determine who may be adversely affected, and can ask you to obtain their written approval.
The term 'interested persons or parties' refers to a broader group than 'affected persons or parties'. It covers all persons who have an interest in an application, geographic area or issue.
'Affected persons or parties' are people who may experience an effect generated by your proposal which is significantly greater than or different from the effect on the general public. The council determines who may be an 'affected party'. For example, your neighbour may be affected by shading from your proposed new building, or people in the immediate vicinity of your property may be affected by noise generated by the proposed activity.
What determines who I should consult?
Who you should consult can depend on the nature of your proposal and any effects potentially generated by it.
Statutory considerations also affect whether or not you should consider consulting some people. The RMA and regional and district plans specify that in some cases councils can only take into account certain matters in considering an application. These are where councils have restricted their control or limited their discretion in plans (referred to as 'controlled activities' and 'restricted discretionary activities' respectively). The RMA also provides that councils can also chose not to consider the effects of activities that are otherwise permitted by their plans. In some cases, the extent of consultation may be more limited if your proposal has impacts similar to those activities that don't require consent.
Always think carefully about whether you should consult with tāngata whenua to ensure their relationships with their resources and the environment are given due regard, as this is a matter the council has to consider in its decision-making.
Ask the council to guide you on who you should consult and for what reason.
Examples of who to consult
Before you do any consultation, you need to think about the nature, extent and size of potential effects; what type (eg, visual, traffic, noise, dust), how far (eg, adjoining properties, whole neighbourhood, stream catchment) and how large in the context of the environment (eg, minor, moderate, significant). Those who potentially may be consulted include:
- owners, occupiers and users of adjacent and nearby land
- downstream water users
- users of the same groundwater resource
- occupiers of land living down wind of a proposed discharge to air
- people or groups with a specific interest in the site or area (such as guardians of an estuary)
- tāngata whenua (iwi, hapū, whānau)
- statutory, infrastructure and utility organisations (such as government departments, councils, and roading and rail authorities).
Make sure you think carefully and laterally about who you consult to ensure it is effective. The council may identify someone as being adversely affected and require approval from someone you have had no previous communication with. If you are already consulting with them, then your request for their written approval may be greeted more favourably.
Consultation with tāngata whenua
Tāngata whenua may have a stronger interest and concern than other parties over some aspects of your proposal. For example, any discharges to water bodies or activities in certain areas of particular interest or potentially affecting natural resources, such as greenstone (pounamu), flax, or freshwater species like inanga are of particular importance to tāngata whenua. Tāngata whenua may also have concerns that extend beyond the purely physical into spiritual, ancestral or historical realms, such as a deep affinity with particular food gathering areas, or the location of burial grounds, or major battlefields. These interests and concerns may not be readily apparent to many applicants, or to visitors to a particular site.
The key is understanding the nature of a connection tāngata whenua may have with a particular place or feature, and understanding what impact your proposal might have on that place or feature, and therefore on that connection.
There can be a number of different tāngata whenua groups that you may need to consult. Much depends on the nature of your proposal, whether or not the differing groups have a different position on particular related environmental issues, and the organisational structure and decision-making processes within each group.
Sometimes tāngata whenua groups do not agree about who has authority over or interest in a particular locality. Terms used by tāngata whenua may include ahi kaa, mana whenua or kaitiaki. In such cases, you should consider consulting with all the parties concerned. Some tāngata whenua groups you may consult include:
- kaitiaki - generally a person or group with responsibility, concern, or guardianship for a particular area or water body such as a river. Kaitiaki are likely to be mandated by a hapū, whanau, iwi, ahi kaa or mana whenua
- iwi - a tribe, often represented by a trust, rūnanga or iwi authority
- hapū - a sub-tribe or group of whānau (extended family groups)
- other groups - including individual marae, Māori land trustees, or special committees established through a council.
Councils are required to keep and maintain a record of each iwi authority and where requested by the hapū, groups that represent hapū for the purposes of the Resource Management Act.
- Ask the council to guide you on which tāngata whenua group(s) should be consulted and what issues they are likely to be interested in.
- Te Puni Kōkiri maintains a website that provides a national list of iwi and Māori organisations whose mandates to represent their iwi and hapū have been recognised by the Government. The site provides a useful starting point to find out basic information about iwi, hapū and marae. Visit: Te Kāhui Māngai website.
