If a rule is breached under the District Plan, resource consent approval is required for the proposed activity. For Council to assess your application, it helps if the relevant information is all provided and the plans are detailed and easy to read for the Council Planner to have a good understanding of your proposed activity when processing your consent. This will help reduce delays, misunderstanding and potential cost.

you require Land Use consent:

• Complete and sign the application form for Land Use Consent approval.
• Check the District Plan to find which rule/s are breached which is defined by the zone of the property i.e for residential, business or rural. Please state the rule/s breached within your application.
• Describe your proposal. The amount of information the Council requires will depend on the activity proposed and the scale of that activity.
• Complete an Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE). Every resource consent application has to have an AEE. This can be done on a separate document, titled Assessment of Environmental Effects.

Please note: ‘A Guide to Preparing a Basic Assessment of Environmental Effects’ is available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website: www.mfe.govt.nz

• Identify who might be interested in or affected by your proposed activity and how they might be affected (this might require consultation). Under the RMA, an ‘affected person’ is a person or organisation who the council thinks will experience an adverse effect from your proposal that is "minor" or "more than minor" (but not "less than minor"). A final decision on who is an ‘affected party’ is decided during processing of your application. Please note: If gaining affected persons approval, discuss your proposal with them, show them your application and all owners and occupiers of the property will need to sign Affected Persons form and sign the application plans.
• Provide plans to support your application i.e site plan – including buildings (proposed and existing), access, car parking, landscaping. Floor plan of the internal layout and elevations of any proposed buildings.
• A current Certificate of Title (current within 3 months).
• Consider if you need to employ an expert to help you prepare the information i.e for complex projects like quarries, motels/hotels and larger type commercial developments you may need the commissioning of specialist reports such as traffic and noise reports prepared by a suitably qualified person and project managed by a private planning consultant or for a proposed comprehensive residential development you may like to consult with an urban designer.

Electronically:

All resource consent applications may be emailed to: RCApplications@wmk.govt.nz

Post:

Planning Department
Waimakariri District Council
Private Bag 1005
Rangiora 7440

Or, handed to the Council:

Rangiora Service Centre located at 215 High Street, Rangiora

Once the decision has been granted, Council will email and post the person/ company that was noted under the ‘address for service’ on the application form.

When a resource consent is granted, it is subject to certain conditions, i.e supplying an Environmental Management Plan. It is the responsibility of the land owner to comply with any conditions set in the resource consent approval. The Council may undertake monitoring, including a phone call or site inspection, to make sure that conditions are complied with.

Note: a resource consent lapses five years after the decision has been issued if the proposal

To apply for subdivision approval, Council generally require the following information:

• A subdivision consent application form, needs to completed and signed.
• Complete an Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE). Examples of AEE’s are on the Ministry of Environment’s website. Link to ‘A Guide to Preparing a Basic Assessment of Environmental Effects’ is available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website: www.mfe.govt.nz
• A scheme plan / survey plan (showing proposed allotment numbers, sizes and dimensions, and proposed building platforms).
• A recent copy of a certificate of title (current within 3 months).
• Matters under Section 106 of the RMA require to be addressed.
• An assessment of the potential for site contaminants in soil, by using one of the methods identified in clause 6 of the National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health regulations (NESCS).
• If your development contains new roads/streets you may submit a choice of up to 3 names for each new road/street for consideration by the local Community Board.
• Further documents to support your subdivision proposal.
• The application fee and additional lot(s) fee (as listed under fees and charges)

How to lodge your application:

All resource consent applications may be emailed to: RCApplications@wmk.govt.nz or posted to:

Planning Department
Waimakariri District Council
Private Bag 1005
Rangiora 7440

Applications can also be dropped off to the Rangiora Service Centre located at 215 High Street, Rangiora.

Once the decision has been approved for the subdivision consent, and before new certificates of titles can be issued for the new allotments, there are two more key stages that need to be completed within a subdivision process.

Once Council have issued the decision for the subdivision consent, a s.223 certificate is required to be applied for within five years of the decision being issued. A s.223 Certificate, is a certificate which the Council approves when a subdivision has had its final survey.

This s.223 certificate may only be applied for by a Registered Surveyor through Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). The s.223 certificate is required to include any amalgamations, easements and access arrangements (Rights of Way) for all lots. The 223 Certificate is signed electronically through LINZ, only after being checked that it matches the approved plan which was approved as part of the subdivision consent.

Once a s.223 certificate has been signed by Council, then a s.224 (c) certificate must be obtained within three years from the date of signing the s.223 certificate. The s.224(c) certificate is issued by the Council once all the conditions which were imposed on your subdivision consent have been met. The processing of a s.224(c) certificate requires Council Officers to review the supporting documentation supplied (including as built plans showing new services), site inspection(s), confirmation that the relevant development contributions have been paid and undertake an assessment to check that every condition imposed on the subdivision consent has been met.

Consent notices are manual certificates, prepared by the Council at the same time as the s.224c certificate. A s.221 consent notice is a condition between the Council and a land owner and can only be imposed through subdivision consent. Any consent notices imposed on your subdivision consent will be registered on the new Certificate of Titles alerting current and future property owners of certain obligations that must be complied with after the Certificate of Title has been issued or, in some cases, on a continuing basis by the owner, and subsequent owners, of a property.

As a consent notice is an agreement between the Council and the land owner, it is the responsibility of the landowner and the Council to check compliance. If a consent notice is relating to construction of building work or services, this will be checked at the building consent stage. Some consent notices may be varied or cancelled through an application process. To vary/cancel a consent notice, please see the variation application form and the Council’s fees and charges page for costs.

Once Council is satisfied that all conditions of subdivision consent have been complied with, then the s.224(c) certificate will be signed electronically through LINZ. Titles will be issued with any consent notices, if they were required in your subdivision decision. Once this has been completed, they are lodged with LINZ by your solicitor.

Please find link for application form to apply for 224 certificate.

Section 10 of the Resource Management Act 1991 refers to Existing Use Rights of a building or activity, before the rule was made operative in the District Plan or Proposed District Plan.

However, to replace a structure or continue an existing activity (land use) which does not have resource consent and would contravene a rule in the District Plan, a person may apply to the Council to issue an Existing Use Rights Certificate for a structure or activity to be documented as legally established.

For Council to process an application for Existing Use Rights, these standards are provided for under Section 10 of the Resource Management Act 1991, which are:

• The building or activity was lawfully established before the rule became operative into the District Plan or the Proposed plan was notified, and
• The effects of the land use are the same or similar in character, intensity, and scale to those which existed before the rule became operative into the District Plan or the Proposed Plan was notified, and
• The building or activity was not discontinued for a continuous period of more than 12 months after the rule in the plan became operative or the proposed plan was notified.

To apply for Existing Use Rights

• Complete the application form and sign.
• Provide plans of the building/ activity.
• Provide additional evidence the building/ activity is lawfully established.
• Application fee (this can be invoiced)

To submit your application

Email:

RCApplications@wmk.govt.nz

Post:

Private Bag 1005, Rangiora, 7440

Or handed:

To Council staff at Rangiora Service Centre, 215 High Street, Rangiora.

For the application fee, please refer to the Council’s fees and charges schedule

Designations are areas of land set aside for network utilities or large public works, i.e Highways, Telecommunications facilities, Schools and Airports.

Once a designation is in the District Plan (Chapter 35), the ‘Requiring Authority’ does not have to comply with the District Plan rules, but they do need to notify the Council by submitting an Outline Plan of Works or Waiver to the Outline Plan for work to be carried out on the designated site under Section 176A of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).

The works must comply with the use of the site specified in the designation, i.e, building classrooms on a site designated for education purposes by the Ministry of Education.

Section 176A(3) requires that an Outline Plan must show:

1. The height, shape, and bulk of the public work, project, or work; and
2. The location on the site of the public work, project or work; and
3. The likely finished contour of the site; and
4. The vehicular access, circulation, and the provision for parking; and
5. The landscaping proposed; and
6. Any other matters to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any adverse effects on the environment. such as noise, dust, lighting, glare and odour as necessary.
7. The purpose of the designation

An Outline Plan of Works is not always necessary for works within a designation.

The Requiring Authority can request that the Council waive the requirement for an Outline Plan of Works if it does not believe one to be necessary.  Council are happy to discuss the potential for a waiver with the Requiring Authority initially before making the request in writing.

Waiver of Outline Plans

An Outline Plan of Works is not always necessary for works within a designation.

The Requiring Authority can request that the Council waive the requirement for an Outline Plan of Works if it does not believe one to be necessary.  Council are happy to discuss the potential for a waiver with the Requiring Authority initially before making the request in writing.

When determining whether to waive the need for an Outline Plan, the Council considers:

• The level of effects that the proposed work or project may have.
• Whether the proposal or work would otherwise be a permitted activity and would meet any relevant performance standards of the underlying zone.
• Whether the effects of the works are addressed through a regional resource consent process
• Whether the information has already been provided to the territorial authority as part of the designation,
• Whether meeting the conditions of the designation provides adequate control and certainty.

Applying for an Outline Plan of Works

• Complete the application form and sign.
• Provide plans of the proposed works.
• Attached conditions imposed on the designation (if applicable).

From 18 October 2017 a number of amendments occurred to the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) that require Councils to implement.  One key requirement from the resource consents process is an ‘exemption’ for boundary rules within the District Plan, i.e daylight recession planes and setback to a neighbouring property boundary.

Setbacks to boundaries along a road, rail corridor, reserve, river or other land owned by the Council or Crown, will not qualify to go through a ‘Permitted Boundary Activity’ if the setback is breached.

If you breach a boundary rule to a neighbouring property under the District Plan, you can apply for a Permitted Boundary Activity which requires specific information to be submitted into Council for approval.

All applications for a permitted boundary activity must be electronic and are required to be applied for only by the owner/s. The agent may not be the applicant.

How to apply for a Permitted Boundary Activity

• An application form for a Deemed Permitted Boundary Activity is required to be filled out and signed.
• The form for Written Approval for Deemed Boundary Activity is required to be completed and a copy of all the application plans need to be signed from all of the owners of the infringed properties to the non-compliance. Signatures from tenants are not needed for a Permitted Boundary Activity approval.
• A copy of the site plan, showing existing & proposed structure, floor plan and elevations.
• A current certificate of title (current within 3 months)

All information provided must be eligible and sufficient to confirm that no other District Plan rules are breached. There are no provisions under the RMA for the Council to request for further information for this type of application. Incomplete applications will be returned, then can be resubmitted.

What is a Certificate of Compliance?

A Certificate of Compliance is a formal confirmation from the Council that an activity carried out on a piece of land is permitted and/or is lawfully operating under the Council’s District Plan and will not need resource consent approval.

Anyone can apply for a Certificate of Compliance, and Council will produce a Certificate after a full assessment of the proposal has been done against all the rules of the District Plan. Council may request further information where compliance has not been clearly established. It is up to the land owner or person operating a specific activity on a piece of land to provide evidence that demonstrates how the activity is complying with the District Plan requirements.

NOTE: Once a Certificate of Compliance is approved and if the activity changes in the future, it is unlikely you will have protection under the original approval.

The applicant cannot apply, if:

• The request for a certificate is made after a proposed Plan is notified; and
• The activity could not be done lawfully in the particular location without a resource consent under the current Plan or proposed Plan.

Note: A Certificate of Compliance under the Resource Management Act 1991 is different from a Certificate of Building Compliance (or Code Compliance Certificate - CCC). Which is issued under the Building Act 2004 once all the building work is completed.

Timeframe

Council has 20 working days to process your application.

To apply for a Certificate of Compliance:

1. Complete the application form and sign.
2. Provide a description of the activity and the site operating from.
3. Provide evidence the activity is/ will be lawfully established and reasons why the activity will not need resource consent approval.
4. Provide a site plan showing the location of the activity and the associated buildings, boundaries, car parking, signs, etc
5. The application fee (this can be invoiced). Please refer to Council’s fees and Charges

To submit your application

Email

Electronic applications (up to 22MB) may be lodged via email to RCapplications@wmk.govt.nz

Post

Waimakariri District Council
Private Bag 1005
Rangiora 7440

Applications can also be handed to Council staff at Rangiora Service Centre, 215 High Street, Rangiora.