Rodney District Council is now offering a new resource consent process which will allow minor resource consents to be fast tracked and processed for around a third of the cost of a standard consent.
The new process is available to customers who lodge a consent which involves a minor infringement of District Plan rules.
Under the fast track scheme where the infringement is minor and neighbours give permission for the activity, Council staff will now provide a quicker service at a reduced cost. Where applicants apply for a building consent and a minor resource consent is also needed this will now be processed in conjunction with the building consent and a resource consent will be issued at the same time as the building consent.
The types of resource consents that will be processed under the new system include encroachments into yards, applications for structures which are over the maximum height in relation to boundary line and other minor applications.
The cost of issuing a resource consent which has been fast tracked will vary depending on the application but will generally be around a third of the cost of issuing a standard resource consent.
The Council’s Customer Services Director Lloyd Barton says that the new process has been trialled by the Council for the past six months.
“The new system is operating well and we have had no problems delivering consents for minor infringements at the same time as a building consent when the applicant supplies us with the information we need.”
“Customer who have tried the new system have been very happy with the process as it provides a faster and lower cost service,” he adds.
According to a recent Ministry for the Environment Survey, Rodney’s resource consent processing timeframes have reduced significantly in recent years.
In 2005/06 the Council was ranked 68th fastest for consent processing out of 84 local authorities. In the recently released 2007/08 survey, Rodney had improved 39 places and is now ranked as the 29th fastest local authority.
Mr Barton says the Council is continuing to look at ways to make further improvements to its customer service for consent applicants.
For further information and comment please contact:
Lloyd Barton
Rodney District Council
Phone 0800 426 5169
Lloyd.barton@rodney.govt.nz