Process focus:
Assessment process when there are two plans in existence – important information for you
The Proposed Waikato District Plan (Stage 1) was publicly notified on 18 July 2018 (PDP). Any application for resource consent lodged right now must be assessed under both the Operative Waikato District Plan (ODP) and the PDP to determine the outcome
of the application.
Under the ODP, a complete assessment can be undertaken as all provisions are operative. Council’s processing planner will make a recommendation to grant or decline the application under the ODP.
The assessment under the PDP depends on whether or not any of the PDP rules have legal effect. This will largely depend on whether or not decisions on submissions on the PDP have been made and publicly notified.
Assessment of PDP pre decisions:
Upon notification of the PDP, only rules that fall within the scope of section 86B(3) have immediate legal effect on notification. All other rules do not have legal effect on notification. If a rule has legal effect, it triggers the requirement for a
resource consent (other than a permitted rule) under the PDP and must be considered for the purpose of notification and the assessment under s104(1)(b).
If none of the rules applicable to the proposal under the PDP have legal effect at time of its notification, it will not be possible to complete a full assessment of the application under the PDP. In the absence of any rule having legal effect, the assessment
under the PDP will stop after an analysis of the objectives and policies (upon notification of the PDP, the objectives and policies have immediate legal effect and must be taken into account). In the scenario where no rules have legal effect, Council’s
processing planner is unable to make a recommendation whether to grant or decline an application under the PDP. Instead, the recommendation to grant or decline consent will be made solely under the ODP (where a full assessment and recommendation can
be made). The PDP objectives and policies that have legal weight can be taken into account as a section 104(1)(c) - other matters, under the ODP assessment.
However, if one or more PDP rules relevant to the proposal have legal effect, Council’s processing planner is required to assess the application against all relevant objectives, policies and rules with legal effect and make a recommendation to grant or decline consent under the PDP. If the same outcome is produced under both the ODP and PDP (eg. grant/grant or decline/decline), then no weighting between the two plans is required. However, if
a different outcome is produced under each plan (eg. a grant under one and a decline under another), it is necessary to go a step further and undertake a weighting exercise between the two plans. The outcome of the application (to grant or decline)
will be determined by the plan which is given more weight.
Assessment of the PDP post decisions:
Once decisions on submissions and further submissions on the PDP have been made and publicly notified, all rules in the PDP have legal effect. This means a complete framework of objectives, polices and rules with legal effect exists under both the ODP and PDP. Council must separately assess the application against the ODP and PDP up to the point of making a recommendation to grant or decline consent. As above, if both plans produce the same outcome, no
weighting between plans is required. Weighting is only required if a different outcome is produced under each plan. The outcome of the application will be determined by the plan which is given more weight.
If you’ve got any questions, please phone our Team Leaders: Jason Wright, Wade Hill or Ella Makin.