The philosophy of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) is that those who benefit should pay for resource consent applications. If an individual will be benefitting from the use of natural or physical resources they will be expected to pay the full costs of that use.
The Council’s role is to manage the community’s resources. Marlborough’s rivers, aquifers, air and coastal waters are not owned by individuals but by the community. A resource consent gives individuals access to these community owned resources for their own private use or economic benefit while ensuring the sustainability of the resources. A requirement for resource consent can also be triggered by the way people wish to use their private property. Council’s first duty is to administer the RMA and the statutory planning instruments for which it is responsible. Consequently at times Council’s objectives may differ from that of the applicant.
Section 36 of the RMA provides for the Council to charge for processing resource consent applications. Resource consent processing charges can only be for the reasonable cost of the Council doing the work. Resource consent applicants are Council’s customers and the Council strives to provide excellent service and value for money. Council knows that applicants want the process to be as quick and as simple as possible.
Council officers are happy to help applicants when they are making an application for resource consent. The Duty Planner can provide information on how to make an application and how it will be processed. However the Duty Planner service is not intended to be a consulting service. Council is only ever able to play a supporting role as the application belongs to the applicant who is entirely responsible for ensuring that application meets the requirements of the RMA. See the item in this newsletter ‘About the Duty Planner Service’ on page 3.
Application processing charges can vary significantly for a number of factors. Consequently the Council has adopted two types of charges – flat charges and base charges, with determination from records of actual costs at the completion of processing. Flat charges apply where the administrative process is largely consistent and repetitive, enabling the setting of a fee that recovers the average costs for that type of application. A base charge is applied to those processes that are likely to incur costs that cannot be reasonably estimated. This ensures that applicants pay the actual cost of processing their application, with some receiving refunds and others receiving invoices for the recovery of additional charges.
Notwithstanding whether the application type requires a flat charge or a base charge, the Council is not required to commence processing it until the fee is paid. An application that is lodged without a fee is immediately placed on hold until the fee is received. Variable charges are invoiced at each phase of the application process. Invoices will be sent out to applicants at the time of public notification and prior to a hearing. Fees for the time taken in processing are applied to applications that are refused, rejected or withdrawn. You can view the fee schedule on Council’s website.
https://www.marlborough.govt.nz/services/resource-consents/fees-resource-consents
Council reviews its resource consent application charges annually to ensure that the actual, fair and reasonable cost to Council of processing an application is passed on to the applicant on the form of charges.
