Planning North Canterbury is a small-scale consultancy, specialising in helping people with resource consent applications, plan changes, and resource management advice.
Emma Frazer is a Resource Management Planner, assisted by her husband Barry Heffernan, Registered Licensed Surveyor, and with the services of an experienced CAD draughtsman. Combined, there will be over 20 years experience to call upon within the business.
Our market includes people doing one-off subdivision and resource consents, as well as property developers and territorial authorities. Planning North Canterbury will offer personal and quality service and advice, at a competitive rate.
Our mission is to provide knowledgeable and experienced resource management advice and services to territorial authorities, developers and resource consent applicants, achieving quality and timely results.
Emma has a bachelor’s degree in resource studies from Lincoln University and 15 years experience in resource management planning at both Hurunui and Waimakariri District Councils, and for two private consulting firms in Christchurch working on Canterbury wide projects. Her skills include preparation of plan changes, resource consent applications and processing resource consents.
Emma has a network of surveying firms, architects and other experienced professionals to call upon if required for your project or consent process.
Resource consent applications; land use and subdivision.
Resource consents are required under the Resource Management Act 1991 for any subdivision of land, and when land use activities do not meet the environmental standards set out in the District or Regional Council Plan.
Resource consent applications need to address the standards in the relevant District or Regional Plan, provide an assessment of environmental effects and an assessment under the Resource Management Act 1991. Usually, an application is accompanied by an application plan, illustrating the proposed project or activity.
Once the application is prepared, it is lodged with the relevant Council, who has 20 working days to process it. Within five working days of receiving the application the Council may request further information, and stop the processing clock while that information is being prepared. Once the Council has all the information it requires, a decision will be made whether public notification is required or not. If not, a decision from the Council should issue within 20 working days, in the form of the resource consent or notice that the application is declined. Usually a hearing is required in order to decline an application.
If public notification is required, the timeframe is lengthened considerably to allow for the public notice to be prepared and advertised, for interested parties to lodge submissions in support or opposition, and for a hearing to be set up and carried out. After the hearing, the Council has a further 15 working days to issue a decision.
If a resource consent is publicly notified and a hearing is held, the applicant and/or their planner, the Council processing planner and any submitters are given the opportunity to present their case. The Council planning officer will present their opinion on the application, and will usually give a recommendation to the hearing panel to either approve or decline the application. This is an important time for an applicant or the applicant’s planner to clearly set out to the Council hearing panel the proposed project or activity, and answer any questions the panel may have. If the Council planners report is unfavourable, this is the time to present an alternative option or offer mitigating measures that may allow the application to be approved.
When resource consents, variations or plan changes are publicly notified a sign will be erected on the development site, and those people identified by the Council as potentially affected will be written to and invited to submit. Anyone is able to submit in either support or opposition.
An effective submission should address relevant points under the district or regional plan, illustrate environmental effects that may or may not have been addressed by the applicant, and clearly state the preferred action that the Council should take in its decision making role (grant or decline, and if granted, under what conditions). Presenting a submission can be a daunting task, especially if the applicant has legal and planning representation at the hearing, however, a good presentation will given more weight to the submission and questions from the panel will help clarify any submission points.