Late resource consent decisions to trigger penalties on NZ local bodies

Friday 19th February 2010

New Zealand local bodies that fail to process resource consent applications on time will be slapped with a 25% penalty, ratcheting up at the rate of 5% a week for every week an application remains outstanding, under proposals released by Environment Minister Nick Smith today.

Consultation on the penalties regime is under way now, for implementation on July 1.

"Last year's report on resource consent processing identified that 31% of resource consents were processed late and another 28% involved an extension of time," Smith said. "The report also identified that this problem had got progressively worse over the last decade.

"This new policy of a financial penalty on councils for late consent processing is designed to reverse this trend and get councils focused on providing a timely service."

The discount regulations suggested approach is that councils must provide a discount of 25% for a consent one week late, with an additional 5% per week up to a maximum of 80%. The regulations also set out procedures for determining fault, and definitions to ensure the incentives are workable.

"It has long been councils' policy that a penalty is loaded on ratepayers for failing to pay rates on time. If it's good enough for the goose; it's good enough for the gander. This new policy applies the same principle where the council fails to meet statutory timeframes," said Smith.

The proposals were minimums. Some councils already imposed greater penalties on themselves and this could continue.

"This new policy is about recognising that time is money. New Zealand's economic recovery cannot be held back by inefficient and costly red tape," said Smith.

Businesswire.co.nz

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