\section{The resource consent process} \paragraph{Screening and scoping.} In New Zealand development activities are regulated through regional and district plans. These plans are prepared by the regional and district councils in a long process that provides ample opportunity for consultation with the public and industry representatives alike \parencite{miller2010implementing}. For any activity not explicitly permitted by the plans and policy statements a resource consent must be obtained \parencite{fookes}. Any development activity that is advertised as resulting in significant positive impacts on the region---the type of activity that this analysis focuses on---is very likely to also require resource consents. \paragraph{Assessment of effects and optional consulation.} After checking the appropriate district or regional plans to confirm whether a resource consent is required, the applicant is to prepare a thorough assessment of environmental effects (AEE). Although it might be beneficial to consult with possibly affected people and interested members of the general public at this stage, consultation is not a general requirement under the RMA. \paragraph{Review and additional information.} After the application is lodged and the AEE submitted, the council will process it. If the AEE is considered lacking, the council may ask the applicant to provide further information; inadequate applications that are unlikely to be improved significantly may also be rejected altogether. % TODO: what percentage of applications is rejected at this stage? % majority of rejected applications are made by private people. \paragraph{Notification.} After a review of the AEE, the council processing the resource consent application may decide to involve the public by means of public notification or determine that public notification is not required when the activity is expected to only have minor effects and all affected parties agree on the proposal \parencite{fookes}. % TODO: a little more on notification types Often the quality and coverage of activities in the council's plan determine whether or not the expected effects of a development activity will be considered minor and thus influence directly whether an application will be publicly notified. This dependency on plan quality and coverage can be seen in the dealings of the Christchurch City Council with a series of resource consent applications between 2004 and 2006 relating to the construction of a 53 metre high office block and an adjacent car park building \parencite{ruske}. The first application in 2004 was processed on a non-notified basis, despite the opposition of about 1,300 people who presented a petition to the council in which they demanded a change to the city plan to explicitly restrict the height of buildings in the affected zone. Since the city plan did not include any height restrictions for buildings in the zone, the application could not be rejected on grounds of non-compliance. A second application for a scaled-down proposal was also approved without public notification. \subsection{Submissions from the public and hearings} - in the case of public notification, council prepares a report based on submissions, the AEE and additional evidence provided by the applicant. The report is hence strongly influenced by the applicant's input. \paragraph{Officer's report and decision-making.} TODO. \section{Consultation and participation in EIA and the RMA} - EIA in NZ differs from international best practice, because consultation before the application is lodged is not required - consultation may be required by another Act; consultation with Maori (if affected) is usually required due to Treaty - any results of consultation must be included in the AEE %While councils usually engange the public during the consultation %phases of the plan formation process, the picture on the resource %consent level is a different one. According to the 2010/11 survey of %local authorities the New Zealand \textcite{rma-survey} carries out %every two years, only about six per cent of all resource consents in %the two-year period were notified in some way, with only four per cent %being publicly notified (``poor provision of information''). Hence, %although the public can influence the framework relative to which %resource consents are evaluated, there is limited opportunity for the %public to affect the outcome of the actual decision-making process; %this situation may result in reduced willingness to participate in %areas where public participation is still possible (``failure to %influence the decision-making process''). refer to http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/everyday/consent-consultation/ \subsection{AEE review and notification} - council reviews AEE and decides whether to notify or not %beyond the requirements of the Fourth Schedule, %however, there are few guidelines to assess the quality of an %AEE \parencite{miller2010implementing}. - this is the point that Grinlinton is talking about. If the councils don't review dilligently enough, proposals with incomplete or misleading data are not challenged and pass through to a decision (for non-notified applications) or enters limited notification where directly affected people find a compromise with the applicant (applicant can buy approval) or enters public submission stage. A misleading AEE will be difficult for the public to challenge on technical grounds. % http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mediating+sustainability%3a+the+public+interest+mediator+in+the+New...-a0176372138 \begin{quote} According to one survey, only five percent of consent applications are notified, (51) which is an important finding because, in general, only those parties who make a submission on a notified consent application have standing to appeal a council's decision to the Environment Court. \end{quote} % TODO: check if there were big non-notified proposals in the past % TODO: review course readings to find problems \subsection{The implementation gap} \begin{quote} % there was a gap between the environmental management techniques % advocated in district plans and those being applied in resource % consents. The lower the council capacity and plan quality, the greater % the implementation gap. For a number of reasons, most plans are more % ambitious in their scope and intentions than is realised in practice % through techniques used in consents. \end{quote} [confessions, p 13] % TODO