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Making Good Decisions: A training, assessment and certification programme for RMA decision-makers

The Making Good Decisions Programme helps councillors, community board members, and independent commissioners make better decisions under the Resource Management Act (RMA). It provides RMA decision-makers with the skills they need to run fair and effective resource consent, plan change and designation hearings, and to make informed decisions.

The award-winning [2005 Supreme Award (Resource Management Law Association), 2005 Award of Merit (New Zealand Planning Institute), Finalist, Public Service Category (BearingPoint Innovation Awards)] programme was developed by the Ministry for the Environment and Local Government New Zealand, in consultation with stakeholders and professional bodies, including the New Zealand Planning Institute.

It is delivered by the University of Auckland's Centre for Continuing Education, which employs an experienced team of presenters, facilitators and tutors. For more information on the structure and content of the programme, go to the University of Auckland's Centre for Continuing Education website.

Successful participants are issued with a certificate, valid for three years, confirming they have successfully achieved the programme’s competencies and are capable decision-makers. Since the launch of the programme in February 2005, six training and certification rounds have been held, with over 1200 decision-makers achieving certification so far.

It is up to consent authorities to appoint decision-makers to hearings panels, taking into account the accreditation requirements of the RMA. The Resource Management Amendment Act 2005 introduced new requirements for the accreditation of panel members at local hearings. All chairs of hearing panels and a majority of the members of any hearings panel must be accredited.

The Minister for the Environment approved the successful completion of the Making Good Decisions Programme as a qualification for accreditation. The Minister announced his decision by way of a notice in the New Zealand Gazette.

Training and certification rounds are scheduled after local body elections and at other times in response to sufficient demand. To advise of your interest in training and certification, please contact Libby Passau at the Centre for Continuing Education on (09) 373-7599 x 88532 or l.passau@auckland.ac.nz

Certification brings with it both opportunities and obligations. Certificate holders are obliged to engage in continuing professional development and have their understanding re-assessed, should they wish to have their certificates reissued on expiry after three years. At re-certification, two options are available:

OPTION A: 

Re-certification for those who plan to continue as members of hearings panels. This course is pitched at a level of difficulty similar to the original training. This course is for those who are hearings panel members.

OPTION B:  

Re-certification for those who are already experienced chairs, or who would like to develop skills as chairs. This course is more advanced and significantly more demanding. Note – it is not mandatory to have completed Option B in order to chair a hearing.

Opportunities for re-certification are offered to decision-makers some months in advance of the expiry of their certificates. Those who successfully complete either re-certification course are issued with a new certificate that is valid for a further five years. For those obtaining re-certification under Option B, their certificate includes a 'chairing endorsement'. Decision-makers are not legally required to have a 'chairing endorsement' to chair hearings under the RMA, but the course does help them develop or maintain the skills they need to perform this role effectively.

A regular newsletter on hearing and decision-making practice and training opportunities is sent to certificate holders.

The Ministry also maintains an active interest in the performance of decision-makers by, for example, evaluating hearings panels and fielding complaints about the performance of certificate holders. It is helping Local Government New Zealand to develop a service to enable councils, hearings panels or individual decision-makers to request evaluations of their performance. For more information about this service, or to register an interest, contact Irene Clarke at Local Government New Zealand, on (04) 924-1210 or email irene.clarke@lgnz.co.nz

The Ministry is obviously also interested in whether the programme itself is helping decision-makers and hearings panels to improve their performance. It has commissioned an independent report that strongly suggests the programme is having a significant, positive impact on performance, across New Zealand.

List of certificate holders

Full list of all local body elected members who are current certificate holders, arranged by their 'home' council

Full list of all other certificate holders, including independent commissioners, consultants, and council staff

For general enquiries about the programme or to advise of changes or corrections to the lists of certificate holders, please contact

Julian Jackson
Senior Adviser at the Ministry for the Environment
(04) 439 7486
julian.jackson@mfe.govt.nz

Last updated: 11 March 2009