The Rates Rebate (Retirement Village Residents) Amendment Act 2018 (2018 No 1) came into effect on 2 February 2017, addressing an anomaly under the Rates Rebate Act 1973. The Act ensures residents of retirement villages are recognised as paying rates and are therefore entitled to apply for a rates rebate, regardless of the billing practice of the local authority.
Local authorities are heavily reliant on expert certification when determining consent applications and compliance with conditions of consent, but which experts should they trust?
This question has recently been explored by the Environment Court in David Mulholland Consulting Engineer Ltd v Whanganui District Council [2018] NZEnvC 10.
Amendments to the consenting and notification provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) came into effect on 18 October 2017, altering how resource consent applications are processed, and how notification and affected persons are determined.
Almost 18 months after its introduction to the House, the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill has passed its third reading. The wide-reaching Act amends the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), the Reserves Act 1977, the Public Works Act 1981, the Conservation Act 1987, the Environmental Protection Authority Act 2011 and the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012.
A few months ago we looked at Minister Nick Smith's 2 June announcement that the proposed National Policy Statement (NPS) on Urban Development Capacity was available for public consultation.
On 31 October 2016, the Minister announced that the Government had signed off on that NPS, and that it would take effect from 1 December.
The councils experiencing the highest growth will be most affected. That means Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton are in the frontline. Fast-growing cities like Nelson and Queenstown are also affected.
Parliament has passed the Building (Pools) Amendment Bill, which the government claims will strengthen pool safety compliance and reduce the accidental drowning of children
Splashing around in a swimming pool during the summer is a joy for many kiwi children, but the safety risks of having young children around swimming pools, particularly when unsupervised, are undeniable. In 1987, in a bid to reduce the number of accidental drownings of children, Parliament passed the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act, which required all swimming pools to be fenced. The introduction of this requirement has significantly reduced the number of accidental drownings, but in recent years the government has expressed concern that the requirements have not been enforced consistently across New Zealand, and that the enforcement tools available to local authorities for non-compliance were deficient.
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