Waikato District Council forced to hit pause on planning consent pre-application service

The council suggests you hire a professional planning consultant or surveyor to assist with your application. Photo / Supplied

Waikato District Council has pressed pause on its resource consent pre-application service for at least four months, as staff deal with large numbers of consent applications and the impacts of Covid-19.

Customer support general manager Sue O'Gorman says: "Staff in the resource consents team are currently experiencing an unprecedented demand for consenting services due to the rapid growth across the district.

"This, along with the release of decisions on the proposed district plan, and negative impacts on the team from the wave of Omicron, means we cannot deliver the same level of service we have in the past. On top of this, there is a national shortage of planners and engineers due to the huge volume of work across the country."

On average, 200-240 people use the Waikato District Council's pre-application service each year. Over the past two years, this has increased about 20 per cent.
The number of people using the council's free duty planning service increased 42 per cent last year

Resource consent applications increased 26 per cent last year (2020-21), on top of the 24 per cent increase in the previous year (2019-20).

The consents team processes all applications that require a consent, including subdivisions and land use consent applications. The pre-application service is offered to customers to help them understand if they need a consent, or to help them prepare their application before they lodge a consent. It is a non-statutory service that is offered by the consents team.

"Not all councils provide this service, and many that do have found themselves in the same situation we are and have had to stop this service."

"We have brought extra staff on board and are also using external contractors, but the volume of work across the country means it has been difficult to get the extra resource we need. Pausing the pre-application service will allow staff to focus on processing the large volume of resource consent applications council is currently receiving, within the statutory timeframes."

"We know the pre-application service benefits our customers, and our staff take pride in providing support and helping customers prepare their resource consent applications but unfortunately, for now, we just can't continue to offer this service.

"We know that this will be disappointing for people, but we ask for your patience as the resource consent team work hard to process the applications and inquiries you submit with us."

The council will review this decision at the end of July to see if it is able to resume the service once the Omicron wave has passed.

Customers can continue to contact the council's duty planning services for information and advice on how to lodge an application. However, for the same reasons, this may take longer than the usual five-day service.

The council offers this information to assist customers:

• Check out the council's web page to find the information you need

• View the Ministry for the Environment's online resource consent guide.

• Before lodging your consent application, make sure every part of the application form is complete, and you have attached all the required supporting documents.

• If you are unsure about the process or information required, or have a complex proposal, the council recommends you hire a professional planning consultant or surveyor to assist with your application.