Changing or cancelling consent conditions (s127)

What this application is

Under section 127 of the Resource Management Act 1991, the holder of a resource consent may apply to the council to change or cancel a condition of the consent. No consent holder may apply this way to change or cancel a condition on the duration of the consent.^[1][2]

The application changes an existing consent rather than seeking consent for a new activity. Section 127(3) says the usual resource consent provisions apply as if it were an application for a discretionary activity, except in some aquaculture cases, and as if references to the consent and the activity meant only the change or cancellation and its effects.^[1]

For a subdivision consent, the holder must apply under section 127 before the survey plan is deposited. After the survey plan is deposited, the holder must apply under section 221 to vary or cancel a consent notice.^[1]

An application of this type in a council's list shows that the consent holder asked for a change, not that the change was approved. Both councils say a formal application is needed to change a granted consent.^[2][6]

What neighbours can do

Auckland Council publishes a weekly list of resource consent applications lodged in the last 26 weeks, and its Regional Planning Helpdesk can give details about specific applications. Wellington City Council says resource consent applications are public information and anyone can ask it for a copy of a recent consent.^[7][8]

An applicant may ask a neighbour for written approval. Wellington City Council says a neighbour does not have to give approval or a reason for refusing. Both councils say they accept only unconditional approval, and that once a person gives written approval the council does not take the effects on that person into account. Auckland Council says this applies both when it decides whether to notify the application and when it decides whether to grant it, and that a person who gave approval cannot appeal the decision once the consent is granted.^[9][10]

Auckland Council says a person can change their mind until a decision is made on the application, even after giving written approval, and should confirm a withdrawal in writing as soon as possible because the council may need to notify the application. Wellington City Council says written approval can be withdrawn at any time before the consent is granted.^[9][10]

Submissions can be made only on notified applications. If an application is publicly notified, anyone may make a submission; if it has limited notification, only people served with notice of it may, with some limits set out elsewhere in the Act. A submission can support or oppose the application, or be neutral. Under section 120, apart from the applicant (and, for some coastal permits, the Minister of Conservation), only people who made a submission can appeal the decision to the Environment Court.^[11][12][13]

Auckland Council says public notices of notified applications appear in newspapers and, for some parts of the region, on its resource consent public notices page. Wellington City Council says it advertises publicly notified consents on its website and that its public notices list consents open for submissions.^{[14][15][16][13]}

Notification

Because section 127(3) applies the usual resource consent provisions, the council decides whether to notify a change application using the same steps as for a new application, but considers only the change or cancellation and its effects.^[1][17][18]

When deciding who is adversely affected by the change or cancellation, section 127(4) says the council must consider, in particular, every person who made a submission on the original application and may be affected by the change or cancellation.^[1]

Submissions close on the 20th working day after the application is publicly notified or given limited notification. For limited notification, the council may close submissions earlier once every affected person has made a submission, given written approval or said in writing that they will not make a submission.^[19][14][16]

In Auckland

Auckland Council says it cannot change a legal consent document without an application from the consent holder, even if the change has been discussed with its staff. It says it accepts applications to change resource consents only online.^[2]

In Wellington City

Wellington City Council says changes could include things like landscaping or the extent of earthworks. It says an application must include plans showing the difference between what was approved and what is now proposed, an assessment of environmental effects of the change, and the written approval of anyone considered affected by the change.^[6]

Wellington City Council says that if an application is approved it issues an updated consent and all other details, including the date the consent will lapse, stay the same. If it considers the activity or effects of the change to be materially different, it says a new resource consent application may be needed.^[6]

Wellington City Council says that if the original application was publicly notified, the applicant should contact a planning officer to discuss the requirements for written approval.^[6]

Read the council's own guidance

• Changes to resource consents, Auckland Council
• Change or cancel consent conditions or a consent notice, Wellington City Council
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 127: Change or cancellation of consent condition on application by consent holder, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 95A: Public notification of consent applications, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 95B: Limited notification of consent applications, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)