19 August 2016

Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan decisions notified

Auckland Council’s decisions on recommendations made by the Independent Hearings Panel will be available on the council website from 5pm today.

The council’s decisions set out each recommendation that the council has accepted and rejected, providing reasons and alternative solutions for each rejected recommendation.

Also available is a ‘decisions version’ of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan – which consists of the amended plan and maps that reflect the decisions made by the council.

Publicly notifying the council’s decisions is a statutory requirement that does not mean that the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan has been finalised, rather it is one of the final steps in the process towards putting the plan in place.

The special legislation that set the process for the development of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan provides limited rights of appeals against the council’s decisions.

The period for appeals runs for the next 20 working days, until 16 September 2016.

For more information visit aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/unitaryplan or view online at any Auckland public library.

ENDS

Editor notes:

The usual appeal provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 do not apply to the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. Instead, limited rights of appeal against the council’s decisions are available to the Environment Court and High Court, as provided by sections 156-158 of the Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Act 2010.

For further details about appeals please refer to the council’s Unitary Plan webpage or the Environment Court website. Anyone contemplating an appeal is encouraged to seek legal advice.

In brief, appeals can be made to the Environment Court by submitters on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan, where the council rejected a recommendation of the Panel that relates to a matter raised in that person’s submission, and any person unduly prejudiced by a council decision to accept an ‘out of scope’ recommendation made by the Panel.

Additional appeal rights are available to the High Court for submitters on questions of law only, and to both the Environment Court and High Court in relation to designations and heritage orders.

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