By Rose Leighton, Planner, Baseline Group | Aug 15, 2022
As part of a resource consent process, applications have to go through a notification test to determine who needs to be made aware of the development and be given the opportunity to have their say. This is referred to as limited notification (only certain parties are considered affected) or public notification (open to the public and anyone can make a submission).
When considering applications, Council planning staff determine if any neighbours will be affected, or if the wider environment will be affected. If they decide there are effects, and they are significant enough they make the decision to either notify neighbours affected directly, or publicly notify an application.
If you are considered as an affected neighbour, the developer may come to you directly to seek your written approvals. Alternatively, you may hear about it through a letter directly from the Council. This is known as limited notification, where only a limited number of affected parties are given the opportunity to have any concerns heard.
If an application is publicly notified it is listed on Selwyn Council’s website and in local papers. Individuals are generally not specifically notified even when they are neighbours to the development. Therefore, it is important to stay up to date with Councils website, or notices in the paper to ensure you’re able to have your say, if you believe a development will affect you.
During the process of notification, there is a period of 20 working days in which people are able to make a submission in opposition, support or a neutral view. Your submission needs to address the aspects of the application which you oppose, support or are neutral towards, and the reasons why. To simply say you do not want development is not sufficient. Your submission also needs to specify the decision you want made and if you want to be heard at a hearing. You may wish to seek the support of a lawyer or planning advisor to support you in preparing a successful submission.
If you want to speak to the decision makers about your concerns, you have the opportunity to request the decision made at a hearing. You then get to speak to your submission at a hearing. You may wish to work together with other submitters who hold similar views. Submitters to development projects often get experts to support their point of view and provide evidence on the key issues as part of a hearings process. It is recommended that you engage experts early to ensure they have input into your submission to be able to support your concerns. Experts might include planning, traffic or noise experts, depending on the type of development.
Whether you would like to understand the submission and hearings process better, know the costs associated, or construct your submission on a notified application, a good place to start is by seeking advice from a planning consultant.
Articles you might be interested in
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- The Great Forestry Debate
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- With increasing density, good design matters
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- Burning crop stubble on your property?
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- The dream of subdividing your land
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- Your Rights as an Affected Neighbour: Navigating Development Under the RMA
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?
- What to do when you inherit land
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- The National Policy Statement for Natural Hazard Decision-Making and its effects on Resource Consents
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- Councils are Increasing Residential Density, but why, who does it benefit?
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED)
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- New Indigenous Biodiversity Legislation Mandates Significant Natural Area Identification
- Balancing Common Sense and Legal Process under the RMA: Protecting Communities and the Environment
- Time's up on the RMA
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- Confused by Environmental Legislation? You are Not Alone.
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- How Tree Canopies Transform Neighbourhoods and Enhance Lives
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- Flood Management | Changes in Selwyn
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- Historic Heritage Challenges for Landowners
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- How lizards might affect your new development
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- Our History - How We All Play a Part in its Protection
- What does a professional planner do?