New Swimming Pool Fencing Law Passed By Parliament

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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RMA "Subdivision", GMOs and Road Stopping Notice / Consultation - A Spring Round Up of Decisions You Should Know About

We shine the spotlight briefly on three recent decisions of the Environment and High Courts concerning:

1. Whether certain property arrangements for leased land fell within the RMA definition of "subdivision" (Re Spark New Zealand Trading Ltd [2016] NZEnvC 115);
2. Whether the RMA enables regional councils to provide for GMOs in regional policy statements and plans (Federated Farmers of New Zealand Inc v Northland Regional Council CIV 2015-488-64); and
3. What is considered to be adequate public notice and consultation on road stopping proposals under Schedule 10 of LGA'74 (Morgan v Waikato District Council [2016] NZEnvC 177).

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The Unitary Plan and related reports

Auckland Council released its Decisions on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan on Friday 19 August 2016.  This Plan heralds a new era of planning for the region and its provisions will be of interest to many.  The Plan and related reports  may be viewed here. 

Resource Management Act changes – New approaches to plan-making

First published in Inside Tourism, August 2016

Public hearings of submissions on the Government's "Resource Legislation Amendment Bill" (Bill) have now finished, with a select committee report to Parliament due in September 2016.

The Explanatory Note describes the Bill as comprising "over 40 proposals aimed at delivering substantive, system-wide improvements to the resource management system".

This brief update focuses on two important changes proposed in the Bill to the way we make resource management plans in New Zealand – that is, the district plans, regional plans and regional policy statements that govern how we can use and develop land and other natural and physical resources. The two initiatives are:

• A "national planning template" (NPT).
• Two new alternative plan-making processes for councils.

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Changes to proposed plans beyond the scope of appeals

In the course of resolving appeals on the provisions of a proposed plan, it is sometimes necessary to seek the Court's approval of changes to the plan that are beyond the scope of appeals – for instance, to facilitate the 'in scope' aspects of settlements reached with the parties.

Section 293 of the Resource Management Act 1991 provides a discretionary power to the Environment Court – to be exercised cautiously and sparingly – to direct that such changes be made, where there is a live plan appeal on a proposed plan.  A recent decision, Kahuranaki Station Ltd and Greenwood v Hastings District Council, provides a good illustration of the Court applying section 293 in a pragmatic way.

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Cherry picking points on Appeal

Can the Environment Court appeal process be limited by a Council's reasons for refusal?

Appellants challenging Council decisions refusing resource consent in the Environment Court occasionally argue that the range of matters for consideration by the Court on appeal should be regarded as limited by the Council's reasons for refusal.

The appellants advanced just such a jurisdictional argument (unsuccessfully) in a recent Environment Court case, Engebretsen & Song v Whangarei District Council [2016] NZEnvC 086.

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