Complete agenda for October 2009 Council Meeting (pdf, 1610KB)

Northland Regional Council - 21 October 2009 Page 56 Item 10In this respect the skills necessary and therefore the level of delegation is no differentto current consent processing requirements.)Under section 87G(3) the Council is compelled to provide certain informationpertaining to the application to the Environment Court. For the avoidance of doubt itis recommended that the Council delegate this responsibility to Technical Officerstoo.Councillors may wish to note that section 100A allows for an applicant or submitter toa notified resource consent application to request that the Council appoint at leastone independent hearing commissioner to hear and decide the application.Regional councils are now responsible for making decisions on coastal permits. Theministerial veto on applications for coastal permits (for restricted coastal activities)has been repealed.Improving the resource consent processesThere are new notifications provisions in section 95 to 95F. There is no longer apresumption that the Council must publically notify a resource consent applicationthat is not a controlled activity or where the effects are more than minor. The Councilnow has (under section 95A) the discretion to publically notify an application. Thereare some restrictions to this discretion. For example the Council must publicly notifythe application if it decides (under section 95D) that the activity will have or is likely tohave adverse effects on the environment that are more than minor; or the applicantrequests public notification of the application; or a rule or national environmentalstandard requires public notification of the application. (See section 95A(2).) Thereare certain decisions that also need to be made about “affected persons” and theextent of the effects on them. (See sections 95B, 95E and 95F.)It is therefore recommended that the Council delegate to Consents ProgrammeManagers the authority to make decisions under sections 95A, 95B, 95D, 95E and95F. Those decisions will be informed by the advice of Technical Officers usingrelevant guidelines.Environmental Protection AuthorityThe new Part 4A established the Environmental Protection Authority as a statutoryoffice within the Ministry for the Environment (MfE). As a consequence it isrecommended that the Council delegate certain powers to staff that will enable theCouncil to work with the Environmental Protection Authority in a timely and effectivemanner. Namely, that the Council delegates the authority to:• lodge submissions (including) further submissions under sections 149E and 149Fto Executive Mangers in consultation with the Consents Senior ProgrammeManager and/ or Regional Policy Senior Programme Manager (as appropriate);• prepare reports under section 149G on key planning issues to Executive Mangersin consultation with the Consents Senior Programme Manager and/ or RegionalPolicy Senior Programme Manager (as appropriate);• to withdraw plan changes (five day limitation period) under section 149I toExecutive Mangers• provide suggestions on members for Boards of Inquiry under section 149K toExecutive Mangers