The decision in General Distributors Limited v Foodstuffs Properties (Wellington) Limited clarifies the approach the Environment Court will take with regard to the new trade competition provisions in Part 11A of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Section 152 of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (Act) revokes district plan rules relating to the felling, damaging or removal of trees in an urban environment from 1 January 2012. However, a rule relating to "...a tree, or group of trees...specifically identified" in a district plan is exempt from this revocation pursuant to section 152(3).
The wide definition the Environment Court has given to the phrase "group of trees" in Re Auckland Council means that some Councils will not have to go through the substantial process of changing their district plan provisions relating to the protection of trees in order to comply with the Act.
In Environment Waikato v Sutherland the District Court has overturned a determination by the Chief Executive of the Department of Building and Housing (Chief Executive) and confirmed that retrospective building consents are not available under the Building Act 2004 (BA'04) (nor the former Building Act 1991 (BA'91)).
The Government hopes that the Freedom Camping Bill (Bill) introduced to Parliament on 18 May 2011 will make inroads in dealing with the growing problem of freedom campers.
The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2011 (NPS) was announced recently and will take effect from 1 July 2011. Primarily the NPS makes Regional Councils (RCs) responsible for setting enforceable quality and quantity limits for freshwater water bodies within their regions. The NPS also addresses the allocation, transfer of water take rights and the reduction of over allocation of water bodies.
In November 2010 we reported on the establishment of an enlarged Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The EPA Bill has now become law and the Authority is intended to assume some of its environmental regulatory functions from 1 July 2011. This issue provides an update and summary of the EPA's functions.
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