How to get some help
You may need some help to sort out what rules and standards you have to meet to avoid having to get a resource consent. Or if you need a consent, to ensure that you have undertaken an appropriate assessment of effects that addresses any adverse effects and know who you need to get approval from.
You have a number of options to help you through these processes.
The council – your first port of call!
The first step is always to contact the council to discuss the business you want to set up. Remember that you may need to talk to two councils - the city/district and the regional council.
Developing a relationship with the council/s so they understand what you are proposing can help when you are looking for a location to establish your business or going through the resource consent process.
Make an appointment with a resource management staff member or planner
You can pop into any council’s customer service counter and get some initial information. But when you get into any detail about your business proposal, it is more efficient to ring and make an appointment with a resource management staff member or planner.
Tell them why you want to meet and what you want to discuss. To make the meeting meaningful you should be able to give them the details of your business and where you are thinking about locating (if you know).
When you make your appointment ask about the council’s policy for charging for this type of advice. Some councils may charge for meetings that go over a specific length of time.
You can also get information over the telephone
If you don’t have the time to go in to the council personally, you can ring and get information over the phone. Remember to get the staff member’s name in case you want more information.
What to do before you talk to the council?
Before you set up a meeting, or have a discussion with the council about your business proposal, do some homework so the time is useful to you and the council.
Gather your information
Put together all you know about what you want to do and where you want to locate. The information you developed in writing the description of your business will be useful. Also, many district and regional plans include a checklist of information they expect to be included in a resource consent application. Have a look at this and gather what information you have on the different topics. If you have a particular site in mind having a site plan showing what is currently on site and what you propose will be useful.
The big questions to ask
Think about what questions you want to ask. If you know the site where you want to establish your business consider the following:
- Is the site zoned for my type of business?
- What are the standards I need to comply with on this site, i.e. land-use and discharges?
- What other activities are allowed ’as of right‘ in this zone?
- If a resource consent is needed for my business, how difficult will the consent be?
- Are there other locations where consent to establish my business won’t be required, or would be more straightforward?
- Are there any parties I might need to talk to (i.e. neighbours) about setting up my business? Would talking to these parties make my resource consent application easier?
- What are adjoining or nearby properties zoned for? Are they zoned differently (therefore allowing for different activities)?
- Have other people successfully got resource consent for the type of business I am looking at?
- Is there any other information on the district plans that may affect the property, such as hazard zones, motorway designations, etc?
- Where are the services on the property? (In some circumstances this may affect where you can build, or add extra building costs.)
If you don’t know the site where you wish to establish your business in addition to the above consider the following:
- Is there an area (zone) where I could establish my business without needing resource consent?
After the meeting
You should record the outcome of your meeting, including who you met with and any advice that the council staff gave you about whether or not you need to apply for a resource consent. Emailing or posting your record of the meeting back to the council staff member you met with and asking for their confirmation of the outcomes of the meeting will provide an agreed record of the advice that you received.
What other approvals or consents will I need to start my business?
Councils have a range of functions that may relate to your business, for example, liquor licensing, food premises licensing and building consents. Councils often organise their staff into units that deal with the different functions. Make sure you talk to all the council staff you need to – don’t just assume that talking to one council person has given you all the answers you need.
Professional advice
A range of professionals can provide advice to you about the types of effects you may have to address when deciding where to locate and how to operate your business.
The amount of information you need to include in your application will depend on how significant the environmental effects of the proposal will be.
Depending on the scale of the effects of the activity, you may wish to get help from an expert to prepare your application. Applications for larger and more complex proposals are likely to benefit from the input of professional advisers and involving them early can save you time and cost later in the process.
For more information see Do you need professional RMA advice?
DIY – doing it yourself
Familiarise yourself with the resource consent process
Use RMA website to access information about the resource consent process. The website also provides contact information for all councils and links to the district and regional plans that you can access on-line.
You can request a copy of the CD-ROM “Your interactive guide to the RMA” and paper copies of “An Everyday Guide to the RMA” booklets through the website, www.rma.govt.nz, or by phoning the Ministry for the Environment on (04) 439 7400.
Check out your council’s website for information.
Ask your council to send you information if you don’t have access to the internet.
Ask other people in your industry or other contacts about their experiences.
