Environment and Hearings Committee

Membership

Role:

The primary role of the Environment and Hearings Committee is to oversee the Council’s obligations under the Resource Management Act 1991. It also oversees a number of the Council’s environment and regulatory activities.

Delegations:

The Committee is delegated the following decision making powers:

• To hear all resource consent applications with the power to make a final decision
• To hear all Building Act dispensations on applications with the power to make a final decision
• To consider all matters of an environmental and regulatory nature relating to the Resource Management Act, Building Act, Health Act, Fencing of Swimming Pools Act, Dog Control Act and to make recommendations to the Council
• To receive reports on all matters approved under delegated authority by the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson together with the Group Manager Environmental and those functions delegated to staff
• Hear objections to menacing dog classifications and either uphold or rescind the classification (as per the Dog Control Act)
• To consider and make recommendations to the Council on environmental policy matters relating to the Resource Management Act and the District Plan
• To hear all plan changes and make recommendations to the Council

Non-notified applications will be referred to the Environment and Hearings Committee for consideration on in the following circumstances:

• Where the Group Manager Environmental believes that here are potential community effects and/or policy implications in respect of the District Plan, and no other applications of this nature have been dealt with before by the Council to determine precedent
• Appeals relating to consent conditions approved under delegated authority; and
• Applications for retrospective activities.
• That aside, the Committee is only able to make recommendations to the full Council for it to consider and make a decision on.