Here’s the latest information about building consents and resource consents from Waikato District Council.
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Covid-19 ‘Orange’ – what this means for you
We are now at Covid-19 ‘Orange’. The services we offer under this alert level are:
- Duty planner: No meetings (in person) until further notice, contact will be by phone or email.
- Pre application meetings: No meetings until further notice. Contact will be by phone, email and online meetings.
- “Contactless” site visits/inspections are being carried out.
- All other consent processing will continue remotely.
Huge increase in consent applications continues
Many of you will be aware that there has been a huge increase in the number of resource consent and building consent applications over the past 12 months.
This is positive news as it shows people want to live in our district, but it does present significant challenges. As a result, we have had to make changes to our levels of service throughout the year. It is likely that we will need to continue to extend processing timeframes on a case-by-case basis.
We know this isn’t ideal, but it is necessary, and we ask for your patience and understanding during this time. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Changes to duty planner service from January
Our team will continue with duty planner appointments (by phone only) that are scheduled up until the end of the year.
Note: Our Duty Planner Service will not be available from 5pm on Friday 17 December 2021. Our duty planner service will start again on Monday 10 January 2022.
Due to the high number of consent applications, our team will not be able to do any duty planner appointments from January (face to face or by phone). However, we will be able to reply to enquiries in writing. An online meeting phone call may occur if the assigned planner feels it is necessary. You’ll find more information here.
Pre applications
Due to the high number of applications, we can only offer written advice. If the assigned planner feels an online meeting or phone call is required, they will contact you.
Any pre-applications lodged from now on are unlikely to be processed until after 17 January 2022, when it is expected that the Proposed District Plan decisions will be released. You’ll find more information here.
Release of decisions on Proposed District Plan
As you may be aware, Council is proposing to release decisions on the Proposed District Plan on 17 January 2022.
From this date forward applications will need to be assessed under both the Operative and Proposed District Plans. This will likely lead to longer response times for duty planner enquiries, pre applications and processing of resource consents in the time
immediately following this date.
We apologise for any inconvenience that this may create for you. For more information, click here.
Important dates for December 2021 and January 2022
Here are important dates to be aware of:
Statutory processing clock
Both the Building Act 2004 and the Resource Management Act 1991 stop the statutory processing clock over Christmas and New Year.
The period beginning 20 December and ending with the close of 10 January is excluded from the 20-working day timeframe which means that during these dates the processing clock stops.
Therefore, any Resource or Building Consent submitted after Friday 17 December 2021 will not be processed until Tuesday 11 January 2022 due to the Christmas/New Year break.
Resource Consents
The statutory working day ‘clocks’ for resource consents stop Friday 17 December 2021 and will start again Tuesday 11 January 2022.
Building
The statutory processing clock for building consents stops on the 20 December 2021 and will start again on Tuesday 11 January.
New consents will still be accepted during this time and current consents will still be processed where possible.
The last day for building inspections is Friday 24 December at 11am.
Duty Planner service
Our Duty Planner Service will not be available from Friday 17 December 2021 but will start again Monday 10 January 2022.
Engineering Services
Our engineering services (consent processing, plan approvals and inspections/clearances) will not be available after Friday 17 December 2021. It will start again from 10 January 2022.
LIM reports
The statutory ‘clock’ for LIM reports will stop Friday 17 December 2021 and will start again Tuesday 11 January 2022.
Property Enquiries
Our Property Enquiry service will not be available from close of business on Friday 17 December 2021 but will start again Monday 10 January 2022.
Offices and Libraries
Our Offices & Libraries close on Friday 24 December at 3pm.
They will re-open on Monday 10 January 2022.
We’d love to get your feedback
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