URBAN PLANNING CONSULTANTS: YOUR LOCAL AUCKLAND TOWN PLANNER 

Urban planning is all about designing and organizing our cities and towns. Considering strategic planning theories, urban planning helps:

• Figure out the best layout for streets, buildings, and public spaces.
• Balance urban life - the need for homes, businesses, and green spaces, while considering the environmental impacts.
• Allow for future population growth and changes, like more people and environmental planning.
• Make sure there's good access to transport, services, and facilities.

It's like creating a blueprint for how our urban environment develops and thrives, keeping quality of life high, and making awesome places to live, work, and play!

An urban planner in NZ is an expert who works on designing and shaping our towns and cities. They focus on:

• Planning new developments or revamping old areas.
• Balancing community needs with environmental care.
• Working with laws and policies to guide development.
• Consulting with the public and stakeholders.

Basically, urban planner are the brains behind making our urban and suburban areas functional, sustainable, and cool places to live and work! We take your economic and social requirements, mix in a bit of strategic thinking, and ensure your needs meet the Council's planning goals.

A resource consent is a Council approval required under the Resource Management Act 1991.  Where any person proposes to undertake an activity that doesn’t comply with the Auckland Unitary Plan rules, a resource consent is required.

A resource consent is different from a building consent, which is required under the Building Act 2004, a separate piece of legislation.

There are a number of different resource consents that may be required depending on the activity you propose.  These include:

• Landuse Consents – these are required whenever you don’t comply with a district plan rule.  For example a residential development that doesn’t meet the zone standards or doesn’t comply with transport standards.
• Subdivision Consents – these are required whenever a person proposes to subdivide an existing site into smaller sections.  There are a number of rules in the Unitary Plan depending on whether you are planning to subdivide around buildings or whether you want to create vacant sites.
• Water Permit – these are a regional consent that is required whenever a person wishes to take or use water.  In the Auckland context when you are doing significant excavations that are likely to intercept the groundwater table you will also require a water permit.
• Streamworks Consent – these are required whenever a project impacts on existing streams.  This could include placing piles within a stream bed, diverting or piping a stream or undertaking earthworks near a stream.
• Discharge Permit – these are required whenever an activity seeks to discharge substances into the environment.  It could be a factory wishing to emit air discharges, or an activity that needs to discharge chemicals or waste to land or streams.
• Coastal Permit – these are required whenever an activity is proposed within coastal areas commonly referred to as the Coastal Management Area (CMA).  This could include building a wharf or shed within the CMA.

The Council charges a deposit for all resource consents.  If the application is a stand alone landuse consent or subdivision consent this is around $4000.  If the application for several resource consents all in the same application this is around $9500.

The latest Council fees can be found here.

The Council has 20 working days to process and make a decision on a resource consent.  It should be noted that it can, and often does, double the processing timeframe to 40 working days so this should be provided for in any project planning.

The statutory timeframe does not include any time that the applicant takes to respond to any requests for further information (s92 requests).  These are excluded from the processing timeframes.

For example if the applicant takes 15 working days to respond to a s92 request, the overall processing time will be 35 working days from the date of lodgement.

One of the main decisions that the Council must make on a resource consent is whether it should be notified.  An application can be processed non-notified, limited notified or fully notified.

An application can be processed non-notified where all adverse effects have been resolved and are determined to be “less than minor” by the Council.  This basically means effects are negligible.

An application must be processed on a limited notified basis if the Council consider any adverse effects on surrounding people are at least “minor”.  In this case the application would be directly served on affected persons, who can then submit on the proposal.  The application would then proceed to a hearing.

An application must be processed on a fully notified basis if the Council considers that any adverse effects on the environment will be “more than minor”.  In this case the application would be notified, and any interested person can make a submission on the application, which would then proceed to a hearing.

The type of specialist report will depend on the type of project.  Some examples are provided below:

• Four or more dwellings – you will need a landscaping plan and infrastructure report.
• Vacant lot subdivision – you will need a survey plan and engineering plans and reports.
• Streamworks – you will need an ecologist report.
• An activity breaching noise standards – you will require an acoustic report.
• An activity gaining access from an arterial road – you will require a traffic report.

Urban Planning consultants can review your proposal and advise you what specialist reports will be needed to ensure your application is processed as quickly as possible by the Council.

A resource consent lasts for five years from the date of the decision.  You can apply to extend the resource consent if necessary, so long as you make this application before it expires.

A certificate of title is the legal document relating to your site.  It shows the boundaries and overall areas of your site and lists any limitations or restrictions on the site.  This can include:

• Consent Notices – these are ongoing conditions that you must comply with under the RMA.
• Building Line Restrictions – these are a limitation requiring buildings to be setback a certain distance from the road or areas of soil instability
• Easements – these show rights that others may have over your site.  This could include a right of way (access), easements for stormwater or other infrastructure, or overland flow paths which could be in favour of the Council.

We are highly experienced in all areas of the Resource Management Act and the Auckland Unitary Plan.

We treat your project with the same priority that you do.  You can expect quick responses, whether to emails or phone calls.

We will ensure that you only engage the relevant specialists needed to get your resource consent approved, nothing more.  This saves your time and money.

We make it easier to get your application approved.

Please contact us today to discuss your next project, we’d love to hear from you.