Make a submission, objection or appeal

Before we make a decision to grant or refuse a consent application, you may be able to make a submission to the Council presenting your point of view on it.

You can only make a submission if we have either:

• publicly notified the application by publishing a notice on our website and advertising it in the public notices section of the newspaper, or
• served notice on you by letter, since we think that the proposed activity may have an adverse effect on you.

Any person can make a submission on a publicly notified application, while only those persons served notice can make a submission on a limited notified application.

Making a joint submission

If others feel the same way as you about the application, you can consider making a joint submission. One way you can do this is by forming a community group and appointing a spokesperson- making sure too to name them clearly as your contact person. A joint submission has no less weight than if all the individuals made their own submissions.

How you make a submission          

 You can either use a Council submission form or write your own submission

Form for submission on Resource Consent Application (pdf, 36 KB)

For more information about making a submission, you can go to:

An everyday guide to the Resource Management Act series 3.2: making a submission about a Resource Consent Application

Step 1: Understand the application

• Read and understand application carefully. Print out any parts of the applciation you think are important, and include them to explain your submission.
• Look at the the assessment of effects on the environment (AEE) and how the applicant says they will manage any of the adverse effects.
• Refer to the Tasman Resource Management Plan.which you can find on this website, at our offices and libraries.

See the Tasman Resource Management Plan

Step 2: Write your submission

Your submission must be in writing and clearly state:

• your full name, address, email address - if you have one, and telephone number
• whether you support or oppose the application, or wish to make a neutral submission
• the particular parts of the application you support or oppose - you can refer to a specific page or section of the application
• why you support or oppose the application
• the decision you want the Council to make in response to your submission
• any conditions you want to see  impposed if the consent is granted
• whether you wish to speak at a hearing
• any other information that you think is important for us to know in making a decision.

To make you submission as effective as possible:

• explain clearly your reasons for supporting or opposing the application so we can understand your views.
• tell us specifically how the proposal affects you and the environment and tell us how you think the effects could be managed.
• rely on the facts and provide examples whenever you can.
• focus on the specific activity in the application, rather than activiites outside the scope of the application or that fall outside the Resource Management Act - generally we can only consider the environmental effects of the proposed activity and can't take into account trade or business competition.
• suggest alternatives to the proposed approach if you think it's relevant, together with your reasons for the alternatives.
• exaplin why you want any particular conditions placed on the consent application.

Step 3: Lodge your submission

You can lodge your submission with the Council (Resource Consents Administration Officer) in any of the following ways:

1. Emailed to the Council at rcadmin@tasman.govt.nz
2. hand delivered to any of our Council offices;
3. mailed to Private Bag 4, Richmond 7031;

You must also send a copy of your submission to the applicant.We always provide details of where you must send it to get to the applicant.

What happens to your submission?          

We will write to you once the submission period ends and confirm that we have got your submission. If you want to see the other submissions, you will either find them on our website, or you can view them in our Council offices.

The Council officer will always address the issues in the submissions in their report and recommendation.

If we are making a decision on the application by having a hearing, then we make the consent planner's report available electronically at least 15 working days before the hearing date.

What other rights do submitters have?          

Submitters can ask for an independent commissioner to decide on a resource consent application, rather than local Councillors. 

If you do want an independent commissioner, you must make sure we receive your request for a commissioner hearing within five working days from the date the submission period ended.  If you are asking for us to use an independent commissioner, you may have to contribute to any increased cost.

If you are an applicant you may object to the Council's decision on your application, or to the additional charges or costs that Council has requested.

Who can make an objection? 

As the applicant, you can object to the conditions that we put on the resource consent, if:

• the application was not notified, or
• the application was notified (limited or full notification) and no submissions were received.

You have this right under s357A of the Resource Management Act (RMA). Some types of applications do not have objection rights.  

You also have a right of objection to a request by Council to pay additional charges or costs. You have this right under s357B of the RMA.

When can you make an objection?

You must lodge your objection with us within 15 working days of when you received Council’s notice of its decision. 

How do you make an objection?

You must send us your reasons for objecting.  Set out clear reasons for your objection.

What happens after you have made an objection?

We consider your objection and:

• uphold it, or
• negotiate a solution with you, or
• send your objection to a hearing for a Councillor or a commissioner to decide.

If you ask for an independent commissioner to decide your objection, then we must use one for the hearing.

If you are still unhappy with our decision, you may have a right to appeal to the Environment Court. You have 15 working days from when you receive the decision on the objection to lodge your appeal.

If you are unhappy with our decision on a resource consent you may lodge an appeal with the Environment Court.

Who can appeal?

If you are an applicant or a submitter on many types of applications, then you may appeal our decision.

You are excluded from appealing applications - unless it’s a non-complying activity under the TRMP rules - if it was lodged with Council after 18 October 2017, and it included one of the following:

• a boundary activity,
• subdivision in any zone, or
• a residential activity on any land zoned for residential purposes.

This restriction also applies to appeals on objections on the same types of application above.

 As an applicant, you might appeal if:

• the consent was declined, or
• it was granted but you disagree with some of the conditions. 

As a submitter (in opposition), you might appeal if:

• the consent was granted, and you oppose the grant
• the consent was granted and you disagreed with the conditions or you wanted other conditions imposed on the consent.

You can only appeal on the same issues that you made in your submission. For instance, if your submission only focussed on how the height and location of a proposed building caused overshadowing on your property, then you can’t appeal on traffic issues.

If you are considering appealing a resource consent decision, you should seek professional advice first, especially from a lawyer. If the Environment Court finds the appeal is 'without substance' then you may have to pay for some of the costs that the applicant and Council have had to meet. 

You can also find useful information in the Ministry for the Environment's An Everyday Guide to the Resource Management Act. We recommend you look at the sections on the Environment Court, the mediation process, and the costs awards process.

Ministry for the Environment's An Everyday Guide to the Resource Management Act

When can you appeal?

If you decide to appeal, then you must lodge your notice of appeal with the Environment Court and send a copy of the notice to the Council. You must do this within 15 working days of receiving the decision.

How to appeal

The Environment Court's website explains how you lodge an appeal with them and what is required. This includes the forms, fees, procedures, and how the Environment Court works.

The Environment Court of New Zealand Te Kōti Taiao o Aotearoa

In summary, you will need to:

• complete the correct form, explaining the reasons for your appeal, and what you want done about it,   
• pay the lodgement fee with your appeal, and
• serve notice of the appeal on any person or organisation that submitted on the consent application.

Who else can join the appeal?

When an appeal is lodged with the Court, then other parties have an opportunity to join the proceedings. Usually these are the submitters who join. If you do join, then this is the only way you have the right to participate in the appeal. You can find details on how to join the proceedings on the Environment Court website. Any person who joins in this way is known as a 'section 274 party'.

If you do want to become a section 274 party, you have 15 working days from the end of the appeal period (or when the appeal proceedings commenced) to lodge your notice with the Environment Court (and also serve a copy on the Council).

You will find all the details on how to join the proceedings on the Environment Court website.

After a consent is granted, you may be able to make an objection to the us about the decision.

You can make an objection if you're the applicant and:

• your application was not notified, or
• the application was notified (limited or full notification), but no submissions were received.

After a decison is made on a consent application, you may also be able to make an appeal to the Environment Court.

You can make an appeal if:

• you're the applicant and the consent was refused,
• you're the applicant and the consent was granted, but you strongly disagree with some conditions we put on the consent, or
• you made a submission on the consent before it was granted and you were in opposition, or there are conditions that you disagree with, or want other conditions put on the consent.

There are some limits placed on these appeal rights:

• if the application was for a 'residential activity' or a subdivision, you can only appeal if the activity status was non-complying..  
• as a submitter, if you appeal you're limited to the scope of your submission.

You have 20 working days after the application is notified to get your submission to us. Sometimes we may have a longer submission period. 

We always tell you the date and time the submission period ends.

You must make sure that we receive your submission in time to ensure we can accept it.

Link to current notified applications that you can make a submission on.