Participation by non-experts in resource management decision-making : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2013
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Massey University
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Abstract
The 2009 ‘simplification and streamlining’ amendments to the Resource Management
Act 1991 changed the way proposals of national significance are processed. The most
significant of these reforms were the establishment of an Environmental Protection
Authority to manage national consenting processes, and the introduction of a fast-track,
nine month processing timeframe where an application is to be decided by a board of
inquiry.
The national consenting process retains the same right of any person to participate in
the decision-making process as for proposals decided through a conventional process,
by a local authority. However, there is widespread concern that the size of the
proposals decided by boards of inquiry, coupled with the strict time constraints for
decision-making, reduces the opportunities for affected and interested community
members, particularly those without relevant personal expertise or the means to
employ technical, planning or legal advice, to participate in board of inquiry
decision-making.
Case study research comparing two consent processes, the Cambridge Expressway (a
conventional consenting process) and Waterview Connection (a national consenting
process), found that there were significantly greater barriers to participation by
non-expert submitters in the national consenting process. These included difficulties in
dealing with substantially increased quantities of documents and information during the
process, particularly when coupled with limited and inflexible timeframes. The weight
accorded to the contribution of non-expert submitters in comparison to expert evidence
by the decision-makers was also significantly less in the report of the Board of Inquiry
into the Waterview Connection proposal than in the decision of the Hearing Panel for
the Cambridge Expressway.
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Keywords
Resource Management Act 1991, Resource management, Decision-making, Environmental decision-making, Environmental Protection Authority, Resource consents