Resource Consent Charges

When lodging an application for a resource consent you need to be aware of the charges that Environment Canterbury an will apply for the processing of an application. Environment Canterbury has a policy of 100 percent cost recovery of all costs resulting from the processing the applications for resource consent, requests for Certificates of Compliance and applications to change or cancel resource consent conditions. This fact sheet is intended as a summary of the charges that can and may be applied. For the full details of the Council policy and resource consent charges please refer to Environment Canterbury’s Annual Plan document.

Deposits

A deposit fee is required to be paid with every application for:
• A resource consent for a new or existing activity
• A certificate of compliance
• A change or deletion of a condition on an existing resource consent
• The transfer of water from one site to another site.

Should the actual and final costs of processing your application exceed the deposit fee paid, the additional charges will be invoiced to you. Alternately should the actual and final costs be less than the deposit fee paid a refund will be issued.

For a summary of charges see the Resource Management Act Charges - Factsheet on our forms page.

Additional charges

Additional charges are payable when the deposit fee is insufficient to cover the actual and reasonable costs incurred in processing your application. It is difficult to predict accurately the exact time needed by staff to process each application for consent. Each application will incur charges for administration tasks and staff time auditing the application and preparing a recommendation to a decision maker - but just how much time can vary from application to application. Other than for standard administration charge staff time is charged using the following the formula:  Charge = (Staff time x Staff Charge-out Rate) + all actual and reasonable additional charges including disbursements.

• staff time in discussions with affected and interested parties;
• staff time travelling to and from the application site and time spent at the site;
• staff time to prepare application for public notification and identify potentially affected parties;
• actual costs for hiring technical/legal experts to produce a report.

Objecting to Additional Charges

If you feel that any additional charges incurred are not actual or are unreasonable you have the right to object to those additional charges. An objection can not be lodged to any deposit charges. If you further believe that a deposit charge should be refunded then this is considered a remission of the whole or any part of the processing charges incurred. An objection or request for remission must be lodged in writing and received by the Council within 15 working days of you receiving the invoice.

When considering a request for a remission or an objection the following matters will be considered:

(i) whether the charge represents the actual and reasonable costs incurred by Environment Canterbury to undertake the activity to which the charge relates;
(ii) (a) the primary purpose(s) of the activity; and
(b) the benefits of the activity to the person responsible for the activity; and
(c) the level of social, cultural or environmental benefits of the activity; and
(d) the legal responsibility of the person to undertake the activity; and
(e) the legal status of the person responsible for the activity; and
(f) the ability of the person responsible for the activity, to pay the charge;
(iii) whether the need for Environment Canterbury’s actions to which the charges relate was occasioned by the actions of the applicant or authorisation holder;
(iv) the extent to which a submitter on a resource consent application causes a hearing to be held due to unwillingness to resolve issues through other means such as pre-hearing meetings or consultation;
(v) whether the need for Environment Canterbury’s actions to which the charge relates was occasioned by the vexatious or frivolous actions of another person; and
(vi) any other relevant matter.

Public notification and Public hearing

Should your application be required to be publicly notified it will almost certainly incur additional costs. The costs associated with notification involve staff time and disbursement for advertising costs in local newspapers. The work to be carried out includes:

• staff time to prepare application for public notification and identify potentially affected parties;
• actual costs of a public notice in the newspaper/s;
• staff time to record and acknowledge submissions received;
• staff/consultant time preparing for and attending a pre-hearing meeting or a hearing;

Once notified should your application then require a public hearing, significantly more charges will be incurred. Due to the large costs involved in holding a public hearing the Council will require a further deposit fee to paid prior to the hearing commencing. The further hearing deposit amount will be calculated as 90 percent of the total estimated hearing charges. Some of the charges that will estimated for are:

• decision maker charges, councillors or commissioners, for hearing and deciding applications; and
• staff time in attending hearing
• actual charges for any hearing venue, equipment and catering costs.

Again, the above list is not intended to be an exhaustive or restrictive list of the possible charges that can be incurred.