Resource consent applications
General information about resource consent charges
The Council has to recover the costs involved with its administration to ensure that they do not have to be paid by the general ratepayer. Please refer to the Fees and Charges>> section for further information.
It is possible that due to the complexity of issues involved with processing your consent application, the deposit paid may not cover the actual and reasonable costs of processing it. You may be required to pay a further deposit if your consent application is publicly or limited notified. Once a decision is made on the consent application, the costs of processing the application will be compiled, and either an invoice or instructions for collecting a refund will be sent out to you. Some consent applications remain active for many months, such as when an applicant is gathering further information. In these instances Council will review costs every three months, and if the costs exceed the deposit paid, you will be issued with an interim invoice.
Council staff will endeavour to process all resource consent applications in-house. However, when the planning staff experience an influx of consents it may be necessary to employ external consultants to perform consent processing duties. This is done to ensure that an efficient and timely service is provided to you. If your consent application is processed externally, the consultant’s time will be calculated at staff hourly rates, as if it were processed in-house. You will be advised if your consent is going to be processed externally as soon as the decision is made to do so.
To ensure your costs are kept to a minimum, you should endeavour to provide all necessary information with your application. The resource consent forms contain a checklist of information that is not mandatory, but will help with the processing of your application.
It is important to note that while Council staff are happy to provide pre-application advice in order to assist you in providing a complete application, it is our policy to provide up to one hour of free advice, after which we will commence charging for this advice at the rates specified - click here>> to view the current charge out rates.
If you would like clarification of any issues relating to your application for resource consent please feel free to talk to Council’s planning staff.
Activities undertaken for all resource consents
The following activities will be undertaken and charged for all resource consents where applicable:
- administration, ie typing, filing, letters;
- review of application including internal comments by departments of Council;
- collate comments/submissions and write letters regarding further information;
- receive any further information and review;
- visit site of application;
- develop draft decision (and appropriate conditions);
- peer reviews;
- granting of consent and administration;
- monitoring and associated actions related to any consent issued and compliance with conditions;
- peer reviews for any technical matters if required; and
- discuss matters relating to the application with the applicant or his/her agents or advisers.
Special activities undertaken for notified resource consents
In the case of a notified resource consent application additional activities will be undertaken:
- public notification of application;
- letters to all affected parties;
- arranging pre-hearing meetings and attending such meetings as required;
- reports from Council officers, including planning report;
- arranging and attending hearings on the matter, if required;
- Commissioners fees;
- assistance to Commissioner; and
- notification of decision.
Plan change applications
General information about plan change charges
The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) allows anyone to seek changes to district or regional plans through a request for a private plan change. The private plan change process is generally used to provide for large-scale developments on large areas of land or to change the existing zoning of land.
The Council and an applicant need to work closely together from the start of the process to reduce delays and minimise costs where possible. When it receives a request for a plan change, the Council will decide whether to adopt a plan change, accept it as a private plan change, convert it to resource consent, or reject it. An applicant might ask the Council to contribute to the funding of a private plan change request on the grounds that the development will have some degree of public benefit or has links to Council policy. However if the Council decides that your application is only of private benefit then the processing will be fully cost recoverable. You are able to request that interim accounts be presented to you; otherwise a final account will be presented at the completion of the process.
The private plan change process usually takes from six months to one year, but it can take as long as three years. Costs for large-scale developments range from a minimum of $10,000 to $1M. For a minor plan change, such as a single zone change, average costs are around $8,000 to $30,000 if the proposal has minimal opposition. The costs and processing times for a plan change may not be significantly different to those associated with a resource consent application for the same activity.
The two types of deposits shown on the attached fee schedule reflect whether the application is for a “minor” or a “major” proposal.
Council staff will endeavour to process a plan change application in-house. If staff workload is high and/or the application is large scale or controversial it may be necessary to employ external consultants to perform the processing duties. This is done to ensure that an efficient and timely service is provided to you. You will be advised if your application is going to be processed externally as soon as the decision is made to do so.
It is important to note that while Council staff are happy to provide pre-application advice in order to assist you in providing a complete application, it is our policy to provide up to one hour of free advice, after which we will commence charging for this advice at the rates specified - click here>> to view the current charge out rates.
Activities undertaken for all plan changes
The following activities will be undertaken and charged for plan changes where applicable:
- administration i.e. typing, filing, letters, recording costing;
- review of application including internal comments by departments of Council;
- site visit(s);
- discussion with the applicant and/or their agent;
- commissioning of expert reports;
- writing further information requests;
- peer review of technical matters (if required);
- public advertisements, and letter drops (if this method is used);
- commenting on submissions and further submissions;
- writing officer report and recommendation(s);
- engaging a Commissioner;
- holding a public hearing (if necessary);
- paying for the Commissioners time and their report; and
- taking the Commissioner recommendation to the Council for adoption.
Fees and charges
Please refer to Fees and Charges>>. Please note that the charges specified are deposits only. Charge-out rates>> will be used to assess actual costs.
The applicant is required to pay all actual and reasonable application costs incurred by the Grey District Council in processing the application regardless of whether or not the application is granted.
In the event of a default in payment, the customer will be charged interest on any overdue amount at the rate of 1.5% per month from the due date until full payment is made, and shall repay Grey District Council on demand any monies which Grey District Council may expend to make good any failure by the customer to comply with the payment terms.
If you do not make any payment when due, in addition to any other remedies, we may recover from you any costs, expenses or disbursements incurred by us in recovering money from you, including without limitation, debt collection agency fees and legal fees.
Please note:
- applications will not be received and processed until the minimum Deposit Fee is paid;
- if the minimum Deposit Fee does not cover the full cost incurred by Council is processing the consent application(s), then the balance will be invoiced either on an interim basis, or at the time the decision on the consent application(s) is released; and
- Council reserves the right to suspend delivery of further goods and/or services if the terms of payment are not strictly adhered to by the Customer.