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Bay of Plenty Regional Council accepts Resource Consent

Published: Mon 9 Jun 2014 01:24 PM
Bay of Plenty Regional Council accepts Resource Consent
9 June 2014
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council today announced it has accepted a Resource Consent Application from the Astrolabe Community Trust and will publically notify the Resource Consent Process within five working days, meaning the public will have the opportunity to make submissions on the Application from Friday 13 June.
Deputy Chief Executive of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Eddie Grogan, said today that the Council has established a standalone website www.renaresourceconsent.org.nz to provide all interested people with information on the process, including the Application itself.
“The role of the Regional Council in this process is to receive any application for a resource consent and facilitate submissions by all interested members of the public, including iwi, community and interest groups, local government organisations and the residents of all affected communities. At this time we have no preferred position on the future of the wreck and we are keen to hear the views of everyone with an interest in the Rena,” Mr Grogan said.
“Bay of Plenty Regional Council will now go through the process of publically notifying the Application and this means that on Friday 13 June we will be calling for submissions.
“Due to the importance of this process to the people of the Bay of Plenty we have decided to double the normal period for submissions from 20 working days to 40 working days. This means people will have until Friday 8 August to file their submissions,” Mr Grogan said.
The Owner of the Rena has indicated it intends to request that the application is directly referred to the Environment Court and if that occurs, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council will still receive submissions and will assist the Environment Court in its considerations.
Mr Grogan said the website www.renaresourceconsent.org.nz has been established to provide information on the resource consent process and to guide those interested through the process if they wish to make a submission.
“The Council’s objective is to be an open, transparent and excellent source of quality information to people interested in the resource consent process,” Mr Grogan said.
Rena consent process and timeframe
30 May 2014 - Application lodged
Application reviewed for completeness
9 June 2014 - Application is accepted as complete
13 June 2014 - Application publicly notified
8 August 2014 - Close of submission period (40 working days for submissions)
15 August 2014 - Applicant may lodge request to Directly Refer the application to the Environment Court (5 working days from close of submissions)
5 September 2014 - Council to make decision on Direct Referral request and notify the applicant. (Within 15 working days of receiving the request for Direct Referral)
As soon as possible - Council to notify the submitters on decision of Direct Referral process.
3 October 2014 - Council to prepare a report on the application and provide it to the applicant. (Must be completed and provided to the applicant within 20 working days of the Council’s decision to accept the request for Direct Referral.)
As soon as possible - Council report circulated to submitters
17 October 2014 - Applicant to lodge Notice of Motion and Affidavit to the Environment Court. (Applicant must lodge Notice of Motion within 10 working days of receipt of Council report)For additional information online
The website www.renaresourceconsent.org.nz has been established to provide information on the resource consent process and to guide those interested through the process if they wish to make a submission.
The owners of the MV Rena have a website that provides updates on the status of the wreck and salvage operations - www.renaproject.co.nz
There is a website which provides information on the background to the grounding and the subsequent clean-up - www.renarecovery.org.nz
ENDS

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